Breathless
by thisiswhyihatemylife
Summary: Modern AU: Middle school teacher Kakashi Hatake befriends the class reject Naruto, a teen involved with poverty, crime, and prostitution. Warnings Inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **This is a **dark subject **fic with taboo subjects

-Teenage Prostitution

-Drugs/Alcohol

-Adult Language

-Possible Violence

-No Definite Pairings

-Implied Sexual Situations (if even that)

**This is strictly a friendship fan fiction. If any of the warnings make you uncomfortable or offended, it would be best if you left now.**

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Independence.

It is a wondrous noun that states or qualifies one of independence; freedom from dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by others.

The self-subsistence or maintenance with the direction of one's own affairs without interference is in itself a commanding chore when said person has learned the behavior on their own.

Various life experiences and situations may result in such an action; perhaps, it can be as simple as a strong minded person refusing the aide of others based on their own biases and feelings toward people and the outside world.

In the most severe cases, it starts out with a child whom has had to fend for themselves; whether it be from neglectful parents/guardians or the absence of a parental figure. What can result is a lost soul wandering the dangerous streets; resorting to desperate measures in order to survive. Circumstances such as these are saddening, but what can a single person do against these injustices?

Plenty.

One person can make a difference.

One hand can help...

...no matter how insignificant.

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**Breathless**

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**Chapter 1**

_"You may not see me, you may not even hear me - but I'm right here." **- Anonymous**_

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What is so fascinating about the sun? Is it the concept of the brilliant brightness that so many, no matter how much is studied, cannot fully understand its worth? Or is it the sun itself? Some people may not want to admit that it entices them; that bright matter filled with light that draws us in like a moth to a flame. You may not understand it nor appreciate it, but you want to learn more. You _must _learn more.

These were the questions and philosophies of one mask wearing Kakashi Hatake as he had to reluctantly guide his middle school students into the mysteries of the world, at least as far as he was concerned. Most, if not all, of his colleagues deemed the man as an unappreciative educator whom could have cared less about the welfare and future of his students.

And to a certain extent – they were right in their assumptions. His students' lives were just that, their _own _lives. It wasn't up to him to chose their lives for them; his job was to teach them, aide them, and support them in whatever decisions they made.

Furthermore, the man was as lazy as sin. Three out of the five days during the week, he would be late to his own classes with such far-fetched excuses that everyone starting thinking that he just did it on purpose to annoy them.

Unbeknownst to a majority of people, those excuses were a façade to what he really was interested in. Besides his hentai paperback that he liked to read, the silver haired male also enjoyed the scenery of nature. In his mind, he couldn't quite grasp onto how things could be so complex yet so simple.

The idealism of those types of musings and others swarmed around his head as he waited outside his classroom window one autumn day, absentmindedly watching his students as they all piled in one by one.

The excitable adolescents began to talk amongst themselves in pairs. Moments later, the whispers and snickers became more vicious as several eyes took quick glances to a lone blonde teen resting his head and elbows on his desk. It looked as though he was asleep, but Kakashi knew better. A sliver of dark blue peeked out of golden lashes to his half-lidded eyes.

The teacher sighed inwardly as he viewed the boy. That kid was getting to become a lost clause fast. The blonde sometimes didn't show up at school, and when he did it was as though the rest of the world didn't exist. A glazed look would come over his azure orbs, and then he would just shut down and act so…apathetic.

It really didn't make any sense. If the teen wasn't ignored by his peers, he was taunted and ridiculed. They thought of him as the class freak, the outcast. But even with all that, not once had the silver headed man witness the retaliation of the other. To Kakashi, the boy seemed almost resigned or expected those cruel words and treatment. It also didn't help matters that the boy looked younger than he really was.

With that particular thought in mind, Kakashi couldn't help but be worried about that hooded look the kid had on his face. That was the sort of stare that allured the wrong type people. And even though there was nothing special about the boy, aside from the slightly revealing clothes and the whisker marks on his cheeks, the older man immediately began to think about his view on the sun.

Could this teen possibly be a symbolic medium to the interest of the sun?

_Or maybe I'm just thinking too much, _he thought bemusedly. A shout from one of his pupils startled the teacher as a brown haired teen with red triangle tattoos began teasing the said blonde teen with homophobic slurs, prompting the others to start laughing and pointing.

Surprisingly, the blonde's eyes opened wider at their harsh jeering and stood up in his seat. The same kid that started the whole affair gave the younger boy a look of smug triumph, as though he had completed the hardest task in history.

Kakashi looked on in wary anticipation in case he had to intervene. He silently urged the boy not to subject himself to a heated confrontation. Taking a step closer to his tormentors, the boy gave them all a blasé gaze before turning around, and leaping out the same window the man had been staring at a few feet away.

Gasps and surprise disbelief could be heard from the aforementioned room, but both teacher and student disregarded the murmurs of the other students to give each other a once over. With a hazy sheen settling in the younger boy's eyes in seconds, the blonde began to walk away, seemingly dismissing his teacher as unimportant.

For some reason, that attitude angered the silver haired man. He spun around; an expression of utter annoyance plastered on the exposed half of his face.

"Hey," he shouted to the boy as the other got farther away from him, "where did you think you're going?"

The blue eyed boy continued to saunter, ultimately shocking the man momentarily until his irritation reached a new high. He stomped in the direction of the youth and gripped onto the back of the boy's orange low sleeveless shirt.

The older male then rotated the blonde to face him. "I asked you a question. You are _not _just going to ignore me and ditch my class, young man."

A lazy look overcame the whisker marked teen's face as he intently gaped at his teacher. The wind unexpectedly appeared to pick up around them as the air soothed through their stiff bodies. Kakashi thought for sure that the blonde was going to answer him with a retort.

Instead, the fourteen year old stated bluntly. "Why do you wear a mask?"

The silver haired teacher was so shocked by the innocent question that he released the boy's shirt from his grasp. "Excuse me?"

"The mask – why do you wear it?" The teen tilted his head curiously. "What are you trying to hide, sensei?"

Kakashi smirked, despite himself. Not that any could tell. "That's an ironic question coming from you. I can't help but think that _you're_ the one that's hiding."

The blonde stuffed his hands in his ripped jean pockets. "I got nothing to hide."

"Is that so?" The masked man lifted an eyebrow. "Do you think that has to do with how everyone reacts to you? You shouldn't let others treat you like–"

"I don't give a shit about them, or what they think about me." The blonde held his teacher's mismatched gaze in a solemn expression. "Nobody can hurt you when you're numb inside."

Normally, Kakashi would have reprimanded a student for such language; yet, he felt a pang come to his heart at the in depth words. He was almost tempted to rub on his chest to sooth the ache. Observing the blonde quietly, the teacher gave the other a genuine smile behind the mask.

"I see your point," he concluded, mostly to himself, "but regardless, you can't just jump out of windows and leave the school premises without permission. I don't want to have to take this up with Principal Sarutobi."

The blue eyed teen came adorned with a thoughtful look before giving a curt nod. Smiling even wider, which one could tell from the moon crescent shape of his eyes, Kakashi followed his enigmatic student back to the classroom that had started way over ten minutes before.

The two came into the school's structure through the back doors. The younger male was grateful that classes had already begun; he didn't feel like dealing with a parade of students at the moment. He was hyper aware enough as it was, and he could feel his teacher eying him considerably.

Right before they entered into the room, the kid said. "Hey, Hatake-sensei?"

"Yeah."

"You never did answer my question about the mask."

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The last bell of the school day rang loudly throughout the heart of the influential middle school building. Teenagers from right and left emerged from their respected classrooms like colonial ants working steadily for a common purpose.

Naruto Uzumaki wasn't like the other students. He didn't belong to any common social group, he didn't have plenty of friends to gossip with about trivial things twenty-four seven, and he certainly wasn't involved in any extracurricular activities. He was just his own person. And he liked it that way.

Yes, he liked it quite a lot.

Overlooking everything around him to the point of resembling a blonde blur, Naruto rudely pushed his way through the crowds. Indignant squawks were heard from his peers as he moved even those bigger than him to the side.

He didn't care. He carried on his trek to the outside world, where he truly felt he belonged. The fall freshness of the season settled comfortably on his tanned face. The rustling of the overgrown trees brought an unintentional smile from the blonde.

Taking a pause to adjust his backpack, the teen saw a group of his classmates studying him before whispering to one another. Naruto rolled his eyes at them. Seriously, didn't these morons have anything better to do with themselves?

To aggravate them, he turned to the others and gave the biggest grin he could muster. Their looks of astonishment brought a knowing smirk from his mouth; this was one of the few times he had actually responded to his harassers.

Wiping away any evident of amusement from his face to transform into a stoic expression, the blonde trudged forward and made his way to downtown, the more lively part of the city. The heightened skyscrapers and earthy scent pouring from the skies thrilled the blue-eyed teen.

It took him more than twenty minutes to infiltrate through the worst and dangerous part of downtown – the slums. This was the section of the city notorious for its collection of drug dealers, mental patients, homeless people, and prostitutes.

The dirt and grime expanding from the many apartment complexes and shops didn't deter the blonde. This was his home, and he embraced it. From some of the people he had encountered, once they had learned about his living conditions, they had told him that they would rather be dead.

He would often shrug at their responses. He knew the way he was living was often hazardous and unsafe; but, aside from the various perverts that he met, he thought his life wasn't so bad. After all, he lived the way that he wanted to live. The blonde never had to worry about overbearing mothers or insensitive fathers. And as far as he could tell, just because you were a parent didn't mean you were that much less of an asshole.

Rounding a corner and stepping into a filthy puddle, Naruto smiled as he saw his friend Gaara not too far, leaning against a concrete wall. The redhead was smoking a joint, and he eyed the younger teen with a smirk as the other came to face him.

Two young girls ran past the duo; Gaara watched the soiled giggling preteens sprint with bread in their hands before bringing his attention to the blonde.

"Where have you been?" The smoking teen asked.

Naruto strayed on the boy's right side to rest on the wall as well. "I went to school."

Gaara looked incredulous. "You _still _go to school?"

The whiskered boy wanted to laugh at his friend. Any time he mentioned that he went to school with the redhead, Gaara would automatically get contemptuous. Naruto wasn't exactly sure why, but he figured some of it had to do with how people viewed the older teen.

Naruto would always tell him to say 'the hell with them', but the older boy just wouldn't bridge. Gaara had been betrayed too many times in his life to change his mind; because of that, he hated most people.

"Don't give me that look. Unlike you, I actually want an education. That way, people can take me seriously.

Amused aqua colored eyes held sapphire ones. "Who can take you seriously with all that fucking orange you be wearing?"

Naruto scowled. "Shut up, Gaara."

The redhead chuckled soberly, and closed his eyes as he took in another drag to his parted lips. Naruto remained quiet, taking in the surroundings with an unyielding eye. Pulsing music could be heard in the distant; laughter sounded as one of the shop owners a block away yelled about the hooligans that vandalized his precious store.

Naruto distractedly glanced down to see that the sidewalk was crammed with black aged bubblegum and badly drawn chalked caricatures. With one of his shoes, he swabbed a smiling face until it was distorted and untidy. Gaara's voice staggered him, as it seemed too decisive.

"You working tonight?"

The whiskered teen pushed off the wall with a stretch, his shirt riding upward to reveal a swirl tattoo. "A few weeks ago, a new client offered me 52,000 yen. I'm supposed to meet with them tonight."

"Male or female?"

"Don't know. Jiraiya's the one that made the deal."

"Why do you even listen to that pervert?" The older boy growled, his now open eyes giving the blonde a glare.

"He's my Master," Stated Naruto, disapproving of Gaara bad mouthing the older man, "…and he's the only family I have."

"Hmm," the jade eyed redhead voiced, "yet, you can't deny that the fat ass doesn't treat you like a godfather should."

Naruto ignored the last statement, and asked a question of his own. "Are you working?"

"No."

"No?"

Releasing his joint to the ground before crushing it with the heel of his shoes, Gaara gave the younger teen a smirk. "That's right. I decided to take a vacation. I'm my own _master_."

The blonde frowned. "He doesn't tell me what to do, you know." His blue eyes narrowed. "I still have my own rules."

"Whatever."

The redheaded teen came off the same mentioned wall, making his way to the other side of the slums without another word. Naruto clenched his fists to his sides. He absolutely _hated_ when Gaara acted that way. Who was that jerk to tell him how he handled things, then to subtly judge him in the process?

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, the blue eyed blonde went in the opposite direction. He passed several trinket shops and a small lake prior to coming to stand into a steel built warehouse, almost in the outskirts of downtown.

He then opened the massive sliding door; he blew out a sigh of relief when he found that no one else was around. It was really difficult to change in the place when some junkie was right next to you shooting needles.

Removing his clothes quickly, Naruto strode to the far left corner where his more comfortable attire was hidden in a wooden box. He expertly unclasped the top of the container to retrieve a light blue T-shirt, black sweats, and socks. He still had a couple of hours to kill before he had to meet with Jiraiya anyway.

Once he was redressed, the teen grabbed his previous wear to substitute into the box. After tonight, he would have to go down to the lake to bathe and wash his clothes. _But Kami-sama knows I'm too tired to even do that. Maybe I can ask Jiraiya if I can crash at his place for awhile. _

Nodding his head at the thought, the teen was mildly aware as his body moved on his own accord, and he slide down one of the staircases inside to lie against his side. His body deceived him as he felt his eyelids grow heavier.

Blinking repeatedly, Naruto finally surrendered to the bliss of sleep. He curled into himself to provide more warmth, a last conscious thought gliding through his psyche.

_I'll just rest some, and then…show time._

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**First chapter complete. Hope you enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 2**

"_To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else." _- _**Emily Dickinson**_

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The mid-morning sun resided high in the cool skies as the colors changed from a darkened ocean to a cerulean jewel. Birds took flight effortlessly; below them stood a cheap motel with its once cream colored paint chipping away. In one of the occupied rooms laid a slumbering Naruto, who would toss and turn every couple of minutes to unconsciously avoid the light seeping through the opened window.

When the heat from the sun became nearly unbearable, the blonde groaned and then grudgingly removed himself from the huddled blankets he had been lying underneath. His arms went above his head in a long stretch; his nude form releasing the tight knots on his back. Looking around, the teen wasn't surprised to find that he was alone. It was by pure luck that he was even able to get a room for the night in the first place. Some of his more persistent clients were so revolting; all they needed was a quick fuck and they were satisfied.

Naruto bent down after his languid stretch to collect his forgotten clothes on the floor along with his pay that was on top of a lone chair next to the bed. He then made his way in the direction of the bathroom. It took him less than a half an hour to shower and dress before exiting the motel's room in earnest. He was grateful that he had had a place to sleep for the night and hadn't needed to contact his godfather; nevertheless, he still hated that place with a passion.

The teen walked back to downtown as the day continued on, he didn't feel much like going to school anyway. Taking a quick glance at the warehouse, Naruto resumed his traveling and didn't stop until he reached a four unit apartment complex. The rickety stairs made deep sounds as he climbed the steps two at a time in his stride. Without bothering to make his presence known, the whisker marked blonde opened the first front door. Multiple passed out bodies were strewn across the entranceway and the living room floor; the inside of the unit smelling like piss and smoke.

Naruto lightly stepped over the varying people on the floor being careful not to touch or rouse any of them. A cold hand abruptly grabbed at his ankle, making the blonde teen yelp softly in surprise. A painted boyish face smirked upward towards him in a leer.

"Yo, Blondie," the older teen said in a slur, "I haven't seen you in ages…"

Naruto rolled his eyes with an annoyed sigh. "You saw me just two days ago, Kankuro. Now release me."

The drugged teen gradually unrestrained the tanned skin. "Did…have you seen my…brother…?"

"Yeah, saw the asshole yesterday."

Kankuro furrowed his eyebrows in perplexed concentration. "Was he…okay?"

The azure eyed boy raised an eyebrow at the other. This was one of those rare moments when the older boy would show any type of concern for his younger sibling, Gaara. Typically, the two teens were at each other's throats and sometimes even denied being related.

"He seemed fine," Naruto worded carefully. He didn't want to worry Kankuro more so than he already appeared to be. "Where's Temari?" The blonde then asked after a few seconds of absolute silence.

The painted face teen went back to giving the blonde a leering smile. "Forget about her, Blondie. Why don't you a lie down right here," he indicated the spot next to him as he patted the stained carpet, "I could show you a good time."

The blonde haired teen grunted dismissively. "Yeah right." Strolling away from the dazed older teen, he said over his shoulder as he reached the hallway. "When you actually have some money, then we'll talk."

Adeptly, Naruto was able to find his way through the hall without the use of light. Trekking in the darkness, it didn't take the boy too long to find the only room in the apartment. He entered inside leisurely, an amused expression adorning his whiskered face as a tall blonde girl shuffled right by him back and forth with only a white shirt and pink panties covering her. The female teen was overly frantic; she hadn't even noticed the other blonde had come in.

"Rough morning?" Naruto questioned with a chuckle as he stalked closer to the older girl.

The girl flinched as though she had been burned. With a halfhearted glare, she hissed. "Shit, Naruto. Haven't you heard of knocking?"

"Sorry," he muttered, not sounding very apologetic at all.

The older teen stopped her moving long enough to ask. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

Naruto shrugged in nonchalance. He then made his way passed the older blonde and settled himself at the end of the queen sized bed in the middle of the room. He leaned down on his elbows and gave the other a half seductive hooded look without necessarily meaning to.

"I was bored," Naruto said after a pause, "plus, I've been meaning to talk to you about Gaara. He's been a real prick lately."

Going back to her nervy pacing, Temari absentmindedly ruffled her golden tresses with an outward breath as she began to search underneath the various clothes scattered all over the floor. "Tell me about it. The way he has been acting…it's making me very suspicious."

The younger frowned. "You don't think he's into the same shit Kankuro's into, do you?"

"Oh, man, I hope not." There was a bit of teasing to her tone; but beneath that, was a seriousness no one would be able to compress. It gave Naruto an uncomfortable feeling. "You'll keep an eye on him for me, yes?"

"Of course I will. You don't even have to ask."

Temari smiled at him in obvious relief before stooping down to lift the comforter's edge to peer under the bed. Naruto sat up to cross his legs Indian style; he gave the other blonde a curious face.

"What's got you so jumpy?" He wondered out loud.

The older girl clicked her tongue, seemingly in consideration. She arose from her stiff position to say: "I was supposed to work at the station this afternoon, but some business came up," Naruto didn't want to know what sort of 'business' she were referring to, "The guy in charge gave me his card in case I couldn't do the job. Now I can't find it."

The azure eyed boy tilted his head yet again in a signature move. "The station? You mean near the junkyard?"

"Yeah."

Making a noise of interest, Naruto slowly lied down on his back to stare at the ceiling. Eventually, he stated with conviction. "I'll cover for ya, but you'll owe me."

Temari looked at Naruto with a confused yet hopeful gaze. "Don't you have customers?"

"I can always reschedule." The young teen mumbled with a yawn. _Goodness, I'm already tired again…_

"You sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Thanks, kiddo."

Whatever more she was going to say was trailed off as she saw the boy she thought of as a brother fall fast asleep. Her usual hardened features softened at the display. Tenderly, she brought her dry lips to Naruto's tan forehead in a chaste kiss. Whether the younger blonde knew it or not, Temari had always been thankful that the boy had been introduced into her and her brothers' lives. She wasn't sure how worst off she and her siblings would've been without him.

And, truthfully, she really didn't know what kind of mess her youngest brother was getting himself into. She prayed that her redheaded brother had enough sense to stay away from the more violent world of the slums. If he were to drift into the wrong crowd, she had no doubt in her mind that he would readily bring Naruto down along with him.

Removing her lips from the young teen, the older blonde stepped backward to observe the angelic looking boy a minute longer. With an unaware shake of her head, she spun around in a hunt to find some suitable pants for her to wear for the day.

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A lonely blue haired girl looked around the noisy cafeteria guardedly as crowds of kids pointedly ignored her and gathered their lunches and their friends. Hinata Hyuuga was a simple girl, a sweet one at that. She didn't ask for much and she didn't want much. So why was it that everyone else had a friend and she didn't? Not even her cousin Neji wanted to have anything to do with her.

Heaving a sigh, Hinata brought her attention to the untouched food that was on the solitary table. She thoughtlessly twisted her fork around in the spaghetti noodles without much of an appetite. All these negative thoughts in her head wouldn't have been so suffocating if Naruto-kun had been at school. Maybe – just maybe – she would have had the courage to speak with him like she had been planning since the beginning of the year. Being a naturally shy person, Hinata was afraid to approach the blue eyed boy. She didn't want him looking at her the way he looked at everyone else around him. _Those lifeless eyes..._

She honestly wanted to become the interesting blonde's friend. Kami knew they both needed it. She heard what the other kids said about him, how they would stare at him with such loathing and disgust. It was as though he were nothing more than a tiny insect that they were studying for the use of science. It absolutely baffled her how cruel people could be, especially when the boy hadn't done or said a single thing to them.

"_Look at that filth…"_

"_He's so disgusting!"_

"_Why doesn't he just crawl under a rock and die?"_

"_Nobody cares for him anyway…"_

"_Homo."_

_"Freak."_

_"Weirdo."_

"_Loser."_

"_Trash."_

Such hurtful words. Just the mere reminder of them brought unshed tears to the girl's lilac colored eyes. What was worse was that some of the teachers gaped at the blue eyed blonde in a similar fashion. The narrowing of their eyes, the snap in their voices signified how much the other adults detested Naruto; and all the while, the boy would stare at them as though he could see right through their souls.

And even with many of the teachers being relieved that the blonde wasn't in any of their classrooms on this particular day in time, Hinata couldn't get out of her mind that the most unsuspecting one – Kakashi Hatake-sensei – had that morning given a brief glance to Naruto's empty seat with a look of utter disappointment. What exactly did that mean? Was the silver haired male worried about the other, the overall suspected worst teacher ever?

Unmindful of others that encircled her, Hinata stood up from her seat and trailed to the other side to throw away her uneaten rations of food in one of the three gray waste bins. The girl had a lot to think about – starting with her new found blonde crush and a certain silver haired teacher…

* * *

Contrary to what Hinata may have believed, Kakashi hadn't been disappointed when he saw that Naruto had been absent from school. No, he was more annoyed at the boy if anything. Yesterday had been the first time that Naruto had opened up to him.

"_I got nothing to hide."_

Kakashi's eyes widened as he thought back to that statement from the young teen, trying unsuccessfully to avoid his colleagues' conversation next door regarding the upcoming school field trip to the aquarium. What did it matter about who was chaperoning with who? As long as the kids were safe and happy that was all the matter to him.

A few minutes after the last bell had rung, the mask wearing middle school teacher fought back his thoughts on the blonde boy while deciding to skip out on the mandatory after school meeting in the staff longue. His brakes on his Corvette had been screeching for the past week and he was desperate to get them fixed before any more damage could be made.

Unenthusiastically, the young teacher drove his way to downtown. He really didn't like this part of the city, but the repair shop near the junkyard had the most inexpensive price around. As the afternoon began to transition to a blanketed redness, the silver haired male parked his car at the front of the entrance to the shop. Since it wasn't the weekend yet, there weren't many other people he had to wait on.

"Asuma," the masked man greeted as he came through the glass door, "I got some trouble with my brakes. How much do I have to pay?"

A man with spiked brunette hair and a cigarette in between his mouth revealed himself from the back door of the repair shop. He eyed the silver haired male with an unreadable expression before stalking toward the cash register on the desk to make an estimate. He came back with the price adding a knowing smirk.

"You're gonna owe me 7,641 yen with the pads worn out."

Kakashi wanted to hit the smirking man in front of him. "You can't even lessen the cost for an old friend?"

Taking a quick drag from his cig, Asuma said: "Take it or leave it."

The silver headed man closed his eyes for a moment in what looked like compliant defeat. "Fine," he whispered through clenched teeth, his irritation shown, "I'll be outside when you're finished with the job."

Without another word, Kakashi turned on his heel in anger and exited the stoned building. He was almost tempted to go back inside and tell the other male that he had changed his mind. Too bad his car really needed to be handled, though.

Grabbing one of the plastic chairs that were situated outside, Kakashi took a sluggish fall to the seat. He distractedly rotated his shoulders in an attempt to relax the rest of his body. A shadow then came into the line of his vision; the silver haired man frowned at the intrusion and was about to tell the rude figure off when a familiar voice stopped him.

"Hi, sensei," the voice chirped happily with an endearing giggle.

Kakashi stared back into the teasing sapphire eyes of the student that had been on his mind recently. Naruto was smiling brightly at him; his blue eyes seemed brighter than normal with the hint of black eyeliner underneath them. The blonde was wearing all black - a half T-shirt showing off a daring tattoo and tight skinny jeans with boots.

The man was inwardly shocked that the teen could look this cheerful. He then concluded that he liked this side of the blonde teen. The younger boy seemed so vulnerable and innocent right then. But instead of articulating these reflections, Kakashi said with a deadpanned tone:

"You weren't at school today, Uzumaki."

"I was busy," was the slight hesitant response.

Kakashi quirked his grayish eyebrows at that. "What could be more important than schooling?"

Naruto ignored his question, and faced away from his teacher to gaze at the man's aging vehicle. The autumn wind came unannounced making the older of the two shiver at its coldness. _How is that boy not cold? And what is up with those clothes?_

"That car's a piece of shit." Naruto said unemotionally, his back to his teacher.

"Well until you're driving and have a car of your own, don't insult what I have worked hard for." The mismatched eyes became slits. Kakashi did not want that boy hiding behind his cold facade while the other was near him.

"Worked hard for..." the teen repeated almost dreamily. With much uncertainty, Naruto walked over to the man's car and halted right at its side. He then grazed the surface of the vehicle with a single fingertip. He nodded seconds later; Kakashi wasn't sure whether the boy was doing so because of the car or because of himself.

Spinning around to gaze at his teacher, the older male looked back with a sense of dread as a sultry expression overwhelmed that whiskered face. The way those eyes dimmed with veiled lust and want made the middle school teacher want to squirm and run away.

"Don't look at me like that." Kakashi demanded with a quivering voice.

"Like what?" Naruto's eyes lost that glazed over seducing look.

The silver haired teacher didn't answer. Quite frankly, he didn't know how to answer. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that Naruto wasn't even aware that he came off as a wanting sexual being. While he thought this, the blonde went back to viewing the Corvette in silence.

The blue eyed teen had been close to telling the man exactly what he had been doing prior to going to school. His subconscious saved him from the reveal, however, as he thought of all the consequences those kept secrets would have entailed. Without warning, footsteps came closer and a gentle hand landed on his shoulder, soundlessly pleading that the boy turn around. Naruto flinched, but disregarded that plea and said in a tight voice.

"I should go now. I've been on my break long enough. See ya, Hatake-sensei."

Naruto ran off before his teacher could grab a hold on him again. When he was further enough away, he heard the silver headed man yell words at him. He ceased his running long enough to listen to what the man had to say.

"Please don't miss school anymore. I'd hate to see you fall behind."

Kakashi watched sadly as the teen resumed his sprinting, his form disappearing around a large mound that was by the junkyard. The teacher couldn't understand why the boy was all of a sudden pushing him away. Maybe he wasn't meant to understand.

* * *

**Second chapter complete.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 3**

"_Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." _**– Mark Twain**

* * *

Kakashi wasn't too surprised to find that Naruto yet again didn't show up for school the next day. It was quite understandable considering their discomfited interaction the evening before near the junkyard. Nevertheless, the silver haired man had tried his hardest to put the incident at the back of his mind for the time being, and teach his students – _brats, _he contemplated with an inner grunt – to the best of his abilities.

The classroom hours still seemed to drag on and on for him so by the time lunch break came around, the man was utterly exhausted. After releasing his students for recess, he unhurriedly walked into the staff lounge and made his way across the room.

Kakashi wanted to roll his one visible eye at the other teachers as a group of them conversed about, well, teaching. He proceeded to ignore their ramblings and brought out his frozen curry from the fridge. Once he was finished heating his Japanese cuisine from the microwave to its allotted time, he sauntered over to the isolated table where he always ate his lunch in silence.

At least, that was what he had been hoping for. He comfortably took a seat at the corner, but before he was able to take the first bite of his meal, a random person sat down across from him. Kakashi gave the other a stunned countenance through his mask. _Well, this is interesting. _His colleagues didn't respect him nor like him for that matter and it was vice versa for him as well. For someone to willingly sit anywhere near him was unexpected to say the least.

It didn't take the mask wearing educator long to recognize the other as the new history teacher Iruka Umino. The brunette gave him a friendly smile before placing his own meal course on the surface of the table.

Kakashi watched the other male for a few more seconds then lowered his gaze to focus on his own food. The chatter that surrounded the two men didn't deter either of them one bit as they ate their meal soundlessly.

Despite what his peers thought of the older man, Iruka had no qualms about being polite to him. Sure, the man had the ability to come off as irresponsible and lackluster, but the younger man thought he could understand the other. Umino had lost his parents at a very young age, and due to that kept pretty much to himself as a child even after being adopted by a lovely couple. He knew what it felt like to be a loner. No one should have to feel like that, he had always concluded.

* * *

The exhaust from the fumes of the traveling vehicles made the fall weather in the slums that much more intolerable during the beginnings of noon. Gaara Sabaku wanted to scream as the smoke seemed to be attracted to his nose and made his teal colored eyes water. Outwardly, his exterior was as cold as ever as he stalked passed and through the crowds in the street.

Anyone that so much as walked too close to him, no matter how accidentally, became the unwanted victim of his vicious glare. Needless to say, that the redhead had no patience. Although it may not have looked like it, Gaara had somewhere important he needed to be and he was already late; not that he was rushing or anything. Gaara rushed for no one.

Right after rounding an intersection after fifteen minutes of walking, the redhead painfully collided with his least favorite person. Said person was giving the now fuming boy a fake wide smile. Gaara hissed at the annoying black haired pale teen, and resumed his strode while pointedly disregarding the other even as he was being followed.

"Lovely day, isn't it, Raccoon?" The other jeered almost playfully.

"..." Silence.

"You got any alcohol on you? I'm all out."

"..." Stoic indifference.

"I'll give you a painting in exchange for some liquor."

"..." Eye twitch.

"How's that _killer _family working-"

"You have two seconds to shut the fuck up, Sai."

The teen identified as Sai started with smugness. "Oh, did I hit a ner-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off as Gaara spun around and smashed his fist into Sai's smirking face. The pale boy tripped from the unforeseen hit and landed hard on a couple of boxes in a dirtied section of the sidewalk.

The green-eyed teen continued his movements even after the assault. He didn't want to see that infuriating smile on that disgustingly phony face any longer. If there was one thing he couldn't stand about certain people, that was that some of them had the audacity to be fake in front of others. Totally pathetic.

Because of the amount of time he had spent dealing with that pervert Sai, the redhead was even more late than he anticipated. His pacing got faster with longer steps as he finally reached an one hundred and seventy-four foot office building in the better parts of downtown. The construction was tastefully built with marble exterior and varying skyscrapers on top. Gaara maneuvered his way to the back of the building where two figures were waiting for him.

"You're late." The oldest one commented lightly, although you couldn't clearly see his expression with half his face wrapped in bandages. The redheaded boy didn't respond at first as he leaned carelessly on the structure's side.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he questioned instead. "Do you have what I want?"

The bandaged man smirked with a chuckle. "Getting straight to the point, eh? Yes, I have it. How much did you bring?"

Gaara rummaged through his pockets until he fetched out a wad of cash in hand. He then threw it to the older male who caught the money with ease. Counting the sum of yen, the man sharply looked at the teen with a fierce stare.

"Where's the rest of it?"

"I gave you the amount you asked for." Scowled Gaara in impatience.

"Not for this," said the other male who was around Gaara's age as he brought out a plastic bag full of white powder, "this is purely concentrated."

"That's all I have." The redhead snapped and took a threatening step forward. He halted his stride abruptly as a sharp knife appeared on his slender throat.

"Watch it, boy." The older purred amusingly as he used his other hand to push Gaara back to where he had been standing before and lowered the shiny used weapon. "We can proposition you."

The teen seemed as though he were calm, but oh boy, was he fuming on the inside. The impudence of this freak and his girly looking boy toy knew no bounds! Shifting on his feet to get a more intimidating stance, Gaara rose an eyebrow for the other to continue.

"Our boss Gatou has been real low on profits for his other business as of late. He specializes in more...desirable entertainment to put it more delicately. Unfortunately, his various clients aren't as _satisfied _as he wants them to be." Explained the sleazy man.

"What's this got to do with me?"

"We want you to come and work for him." The younger finished.

"No." Gaara said without hesitation. He was about to amble away from the two devotees before a sickeningly sweet voice countered:

"Well, that's okay. We could always find that cute blonde friend of yours."

* * *

Less babble could be distinguished as more and more of the staff residents left the squared covered lounge. The lunch was steadily coming to a close. In the farthest part of the room, a silver haired male could be seen reading his infamous _Icha Icha Paradise _erotic novel. Interestingly enough, Iruka hadn't move from his spot from across; the younger teacher was ostensibly taking his time to finish his food.

Kakashi was no fool though. He could tell that the other male was observing him, trying to figure him out. The Hatake adjusted himself rightfully in the chair he was sitting in. Taking a quick peek in the corner of his eye to view the clock that was above Umino's head on the wall, the masked teacher saw that he had five more minutes until the lunch break ended.

Deciding to head back to his class, Kakashi stood upward and grabbed his trash to throw away while expertly hiding his book into his clothing. Not saying anything to the other, he swiftly left the room and headed in the direction of his class. He got to the front of the wooden door when a gentle hand stopped him. Kakashi turned to face - shockingly - Iruka, who was scratching nervously at the scar that was on his nose.

The two gaped at the other longer than either could have expected before Iruka grasped the older's hand. The silver headed man assumed that the brunette had passed on a comprehensible note by weight of the paper. He was surprised to find that it was the bookmark he had been using for years.

"I enjoyed your company," Iruka said kindly, he then strolled to the other side but not before saying, "have a good day."

Kakashi couldn't help but think this was one of the rare times in his life that he was left speechless.

* * *

"You stay away from him."

Three shadowed persons cautiously scrutinize each other as all of them prepared for an altercation. The younger of the two criminals, who did possess a more feminine appearance, smiled sardonically with a hint of soothing. The older male, however, was externally pleased with the whole situation.

The bandaged man sneered. "He really is a pretty little thing, isn't he?" The long haired brunette beside him snickered. "What do some of his clients call him again? Oh, that's right - _Kyuubi. _That suits him. He really does look like a fox."

Gaara was clenching and unclenching his fists, his long nails making red marks on his palm from his fury. How dare they? To think that he wanted to do serious dealings with these two creeps. The redhead had an urge to hit something else now; the two males a few feet from him would do nicely.

"Zabuza-san and I won't have to do anything with the boy as long as you cooperate with us. You could either give us three times the original amount by tonight or you could come work for our boss." The younger male concluded in a matter-of-fact speech.

The jaded orbs narrowed into slits at their ultimatum. The fact that they even had threaten him was much to be desired; not only that, they had brought Naruto into the equation. Gaara really, _really _didn't want to work for that slimy business man.

It was true that Gatou was one of the wealthiest men in the city, but he had got his riches through greed and ruthlessness. Not to mention, the man was as cowardly as they came. If it wasn't for his numerous bodyguards, the heavy male would have been dead two times over. On the other hand considering, the redhead needed a fix and didn't think he could have the money in the required time.

"How much would I get paid?" Gaara asked in a murmur.

Zabuza stated quite proudly. "350,000 yen a week roughly, depending on the client."

The redhead wanted to scoff at those earnings. He expected a lot more money than that. Even so, it was safe to say that if he were lucky, he could make possibly half that cost at any other interval. Still, he knew he couldn't trust the two men; they were as low as the dirt at the bottom of his heels. He would have to be smart about this arrangement.

Easing his body to unwind to a calm state, Gaara took a deep inhale then breathe it out through his nostrils. He gave the pair an impassive gaze before stalking away from the area. His icy voice could be heard while he turned the corner.

"I'll think about it."

"See you tonight." The tanned bandaged Zabuza shouted to the receding figure, smirking all the while. The older man rotated to stand in front of his teenage partner. He gave the other a slow nod.

Taking out a cellphone from his jean pocket, the younger flipped the phone opened to dial an unknown number. The phone on the other line rung a couple of times before a gruff voice answered brusquely.

"It's Haku," the boy said quietly, "tell the boss that we have a potential employee."

* * *

The reflection of the intensity of the moon mirrored brilliantly against the paleness that was Gaara's smooth skin. In the darkness of his room he sat on the cold floor, with his knees drawn to his chest and his arms around his legs. Here, alone in the darkness, the redhead could be real. To show an ounce of his vulnerability.

After the meeting with two of Gatou's followers, Gaara had aimlessly walked around downtown. He had no definite place in mind to go, he just had lots to think about. While in his musings, the green eyed teen could feel the beginning effects of withdrawal itch from underneath his prickly being.

If there was one thing the redheaded boy was thankful for, it was the fact that he could hold his composure in the most dire of circumstances. It made him levelheaded and dependant, traits that helped him to survive.

Now, being away from everyone, it were times like these that Gaara cursed his weakness; how he somehow would always succumb to the drugs. He hated how he depended on them; but at the same time, they had save him from himself. He would have gone insane otherwise.

Thinking back on the subject of drugs, an angry grimace settled on the pallid redhead's face. Once he had been done brooding in his misfortune, the Sabaku had gone back to met with Zabuza and Haku. Without waiting for their predicted sarcastic reactions, he told them harshly that he agreed - that he would work for the scumbag.

The self-satisfied smiles on their faces was enough to send the boy over the edge. He then followed the duo to the next building that was a block over to encounter his new boss. It wasn't as magnificient as the marbled edifice, but the lawns were trimmed and the structure was solid and refined. The trio used the buildings grand elevator to go to the twenty-eighth floor, the last floor on the upper channels. Gaara will forever remember that smug face...

_"I'm glad to have you on my team, Gaara-san," The business man held out his hand for Gaara to shake._

_At this point, the redhead wanted nothing more but to punch that fat bastard's face right in. He instead brought out his own hand, and with the contact between the two males his fate was sealed._

_"You're going to make a great addition. You're beauty and reputation does precede you after all..."_

Gaara experienced a wave of ire disgust as the shudder racked his body. Tightening his body closer to himself, the jade eyed teen looked out of the opened window as the night grew colder. Right now was not Gaara, the stoic emotionless boy. Here was the scared little child responsible for his mother's death, his father's hatred, and his uncle's imprisonment.

"Mother, are you disappointed in me?" He whispered to the empty room. "I'm sorry."

* * *

**Third chapter complete.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 4**

"_Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends." – _**Shirley MacLaine**

* * *

Naruto wasn't sure what had compelled him to awaken the next morning and arrive to his school earlier than he regularly did. Then again, it might have had to do with him being in a fairly good mood; he had made a handful of cash the previous night after servicing five of his regular clients.

The identifiable sun, he noticed as he walked, that occasionally shone brightly above the multicolored sky was today hiding behind the darkening clouds that were emerging. It was going to be a more chillier day than it had been during the following weeks.

There were lesser students lounging around as the blonde made his ascent to the mentioned middle school. This was due to the morning bell not having to ring for the next half an hour or so.

As Naruto climbed the steps that directed the way to the entrance of the school's hallway, he turned his head slightly and gazed at the two sets of pupil less eyes staring back at him.

The female of the duo, whom he recognized as the Hyuuga girl, gave him a timid smile. Deciding to humor the poor shy girl for once, he gave her a half smile right back. Naruto couldn't ever remember having someone openly smile at him unless they had a menacing intent behind it. It was only more delightful when Hinata blushed at the display, making her crush on the blue eyed teen more evident.

When the blonde had entered the school and was out of sight, Neji Hyuuga eyed his cousin with a disgusted look. Hinata could already feel the older boy's resentment without having to even look at him.

"You disgust me," he started, Hinata inwardly winced knowing she had been correct in her assessment, "why were you smiling at..." his light purple eyes landed near the place the Uzumaki had been before he came into the hall, "that _thing _in the first place?"

Pushing her fingertips together in a nervous gesture, the female Hyuuga whispered unsurely. "He's...he's not a t-thing. He's a person just like y-you or me..."

Neji sneered at her response. "I guess I shouldn't expect any better from you. Who better to understand a loser than a loser themselves?"

Hinata didn't comment on that. She could feel the humiliating tears wanting to escape from her closed eyelids as she tried to block out his vicious words. Neji snorted as he looked his cousin up and down in an arrogant manner. _She's so pathetic, _he thought to himself snidely. Not wanting to spend another second in her presence, the long haired teen sauntered away in elegance and pride and made his way inside.

The pupil less girl stood still afterwards, even when more of her peers appeared and some of them rudely bumped into her. She couldn't understand it - why did Neji hate her so much? What had she ever done to deserve the harsh treatment he would give her ever since the two of them were kids? Was this how Naruto-kun felt ever time someone randomly insulted him? She then knew it took a mentally strong person to handle what the blonde had had to handle. She would forever admire him for his strength.

* * *

"How was your morning?" A soft voice was all the man heard as he tried visibly to ignore the nice brunette man that was sitting across from him.

Kakashi had an orange cover paperback in his face and shrugged at the other's question; he nonchalantly turned the page to continue his reading while he did this. Umino shut his eyes briefly and chuckled quietly at the man's behavior. Who knew that this seemingly uncaring man could be so amusing?

"I was almost late today," he resumed despite the other teacher's uninterested stance in his seat, "my alarm clock wasn't working right. Can you imagine how silly I looked nearly running to my class?"

"Not really," the silver haired man muttered, turning another page in his book.

"You don't seem very interested." Iruka mused aloud, pointedly stating the obvious.

"I'm not."

"Your students most not be very inspired." Kakashi gave another shrug. "I guess it doesn't matter to you one way or the other, huh?"

Regarding the given question he was asked seriously (without showing that he cared outwardly, of course), the masked man thought back to his first period class and the satisfying exchange between him a certain blonde haired student...

_Kakashi Hatake was late to his class as usual; he had been caught up when one of the teachers, whom he extremely disliked, tried to flirt with him. What was up with all his colleagues all of a sudden being interested in him? First the Umino, now this crazy violet haired woman named...Inko? Amo? Anko? _Hmm, one of those, _he decided with his typical shrug._

_Instead of telling his class the truth however, he told them some white lie about how he had to help a little frail old lady cross the street. His students had either groaned or rolled their eyes at his fabrication. All but one..._

_"Ah, Uzumaki," mismatched eyes turned upward to indicate that the older man was indeed smiling, "nice of you to join us today. Did you have trouble finding the school yesterday? I assume that was the case seeing as though you missed yet another day of my class."_

_A couple of snickers and giggles could be heard throughout the classroom, yet Naruto looked as though he could care less. His classmates all thought that he wasn't going to respond to the silver headed teacher and keep on watching him through his half lidded eyes. Everyone, including Hatake, got a shock of a lifetime when he spoke in a matter of fact tone._

_"Naw, I was just screwed over a few times and then some." The whisker marked teen brought his arms to rest on his table._

_Kakashi arched an eyebrow, well aware of the 'come hither' gaze the fox-like boy was emitting effortlessly. "Do I want to know what you mean by that statement?"_

_Another surprise came in the form of a knowing smirk. "Probably not."_

_Kakashi was so distracted by the blonde's seductive stare that it took him longer than it usually would have to notice that the boy was sporting a brownish colored bruise on the left side of his face near his scarred cheek._

_"What happened to your face?" The man asked._

_"Someone punched me." he said quite bluntly._

_"Who?"_

_The masked educator was surprised to find that some of the boys in the class were smirking at this admittance. Kakashi wasn't sure whether he should be bemused or angry._

_Naruto shrugged in a fashion similar to the Hatake. "I don't know - some dog-breath."_

_The mischievous student Kiba Inuzuka, the one with the red triangle tattoos on his face, sputtered indignantly at the straight forward answer. His tanned appearance went from being red with embarrassment to being red with anger. It didn't help any that the brown haired teen's own friends' laughed at the other's expense._

A piercing noise penetrated through the silver haired male's reverie. He immediately recognized the shrill sound as the bell ringing to signal that lunch was over. The few teachers that were in the staff lounge hastily removed themselves from the room. Kakashi caught the curious glance the other man was giving him.

The Hatake stood up from his seat and did a quick stretch to loosen his stiff muscles. Before exiting from the lounge, he said without turning around to face the scarred man.

"It matters to me," he relented, "I just have a different way of showing it."

* * *

The clutter of other persons was overwhelming, and at any other time Hinata Hyuuga would have felt intimidated. Yet, this awkward and sweet teenage girl was on a mission. The school day had just ended ten minutes before and Hinata was anxious to get a glimpse of the whiskered blonde boy that had captured her heart.

She thought it was the perfect opportunity to confront him and finally introduce herself properly to him. Her cousin Neji wasn't around to ruin anything and her peers that were bustling and conversing from different directions were overlooking the very nervous girl.

Having to wait no longer than a couple of more minutes, Hinata's eyes lit up as a blur of yellow came into her vision. She followed the golden halo, unaware of the various teens she were running into.

She made it to the outside steps in her flourish amble when her beautifully enticing smile morphed into a horror-struck expression. Naruto was being held by his arms against the school's wall by the heavyset Chouji Akimichi and the white haired troublemaker Suigetsu Hozuki. Kiba was facing the blonde with a cruel smile, striking the boy on his torso, arms, and face.

The blue eyed teen nonetheless just took the abuse without reprisal. His blue orbs went to their normal routine of being lifeless and cold. The Inuzuka was trying to get a reaction out of him, but was failing. A crowd was circled around the four; shouts and cheers erupting, egging the bullying teens on.

Kiba swung his fist where it hit dead center on the blonde teen's bottom lip. The blow to his face slanted Naruto's head to the side; other than spitting out the blood that had built in his mouth, the boy didn't so much as flinch.

Pushing her way through the numerous bodies, the blue haired girl began to sob. She reached the front of the crowd and yelled over the increasing loud voices.

"W-What are you d-doing? S-Stop! Stop it!" Hinata didn't think the boys would have been able to hear her. Kiba and Naruto did however. The brown haired teen turned his head to gaze at her with a sneer.

"What's the matter, Hyuuga? You in love with this fag or something?" He brought his attention back to the Uzumaki and punched him in the ribs. "You should mind your own business, babe. Besides, this freak deserves this after daring to call me 'dog-breath'."

"Leave him alone!" She said loudly, one of her first times not stuttering. She had wanted to break up the one-sided fight and moved forward to accomplish this, but Suigetsu used his right foot to push her away without letting go of his grib on the blonde's arm.

Naruto continued to look unconcerned. Except for the bruise and the busted lip, the teen didn't appear as though he was being beat in an inch of his life. Kiba internally agreed that he had to remedy that fact. Right before he was about to punch the blonde again, a stern familiar tone settled amongst the group of middle schoolers.

The cheers and animated chatter died instantly. Kakashi was standing behind the mounting swarm with a narrowed exposed eye. Some other teachers were watching from their opened classroom doors. It sickened the masked man that these educated _adults _would just laze about while a single student was being attacked.

"What is going on here?" He grunted harshly, the mob parting to clear the way as he walked to the foursome.

Suigetsu and Chouji quickly released their grip on the slightly injured smaller teen. Kiba took a step away from Naruto, visibly gulping as he stared right into that angered eye.

"Well?" Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and stood there awaiting an explanation.

Kiba glanced back at his friends for help, feeling his heart drop as both of them averted their eyes from his pleading ones. This wasn't the first time that the dog lover had taunted and abused the other boy. He had been caught hitting the younger teen twice by two separate teachers. Those teachers had of course took his side, which was the way it should have been in his narrow-minded opinion.

He had a feeling it wasn't going to work in his favor this time though.

"T-The punk tried to hurt me," he lied easily, having used this excuse before, "I couldn't just let him. I was defending myself."

"Oh really?" Any one near by could tell this was a disbelieving tone. The crowd began to dissipate as the man carried on his observation of the boys. "So I'm supposed to believe that this boy that is clearly smaller than the three of you could really do any damage?"

Kiba actually had the audacity to blush while Naruto scowled because his teacher indirectly had said that he couldn't even defend himself. The other two males just lowered their heads in what Kakashi hoped was shame.

"But Hatake-sensei, he was the one that..."

The silvered haired man rose his hand to stop any more words the brown haired boy might have spewed. "I don't want to hear it, Inuzuka. I want you, Akimichi, and Hozuki to report to the principal's office. And don't even think about skipping out because I will find out about it one way or the other."

The three aforementioned boys scurried away from the man. It was understandable that they would, the mask wearing educator had never gone off on anybody like that.

Hinata was on the sidelines and was just about to walk over to the teacher and student when a painful seize came onto her upper arm. Her long haired cousin was dragging her away from her love. The male Hyuuga couldn't stand the adoring look the girl had gave to what he viewed as worthless trash. It infuriated him.

Kakashi focused his concentration on the blue eyed blonde haired teen that trekked further from the wall where he had been held captive. The Hatake could see discoloration on the skinny arms of his student. The boy looked as though he had been on a football field and had been tackled. Other than that, he appeared no worse for the ware.

"You okay?" He asked after a couple moments of scrutinizing the teen.

"Never better." Came the sarcastic reply.

Coming up with an inner decision, the masked man walked to the front of the school. He then said over his shoulder. "Come with me."

Naruto gaped on in utter confusion. "Where we going, sensei?"

"I'm going to take you home."

The boy stared at his teacher suspiciously. "I can get there on my own, thank you."

The Hatake spun around, a stretch of five feet dividing the two. "And I can fail you in my class." He retorted. He saw that the boy was about to protest so he kept talking, "C'mon, Uzumaki. Throw caution to the wind for once."

Naruto sighed in defeat and strolled over to the older male. He eyed the other when he came to stop near his side. "Isn't there a policy against teachers driving their students anywhere?"

Kakashi looked down at the blonde and said rather cheerfully. "Since when did I ever say I cared about the rules?"

* * *

**Fourth chapter complete. This chapter was a lot of fun to write.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 5**

"_What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?" - _**George Eliot**

* * *

"I thought you said you were going to take me home," Naruto pouted, crossing his arms over his chest while he slouched lazily in his car seat. Kakashi just smirked amusingly at the whiny declaration in his own familiar way as he continued to drive through the city's streets.

The student and teacher pair had been traveling away from the middle school for a little over a half an hour. It had been all well and good, having slight conversations here and there, until the blonde realized that they were in fact moving in the opposite direction of downtown.

"I am," the older man confirmed subtly, "but first I thought we could get some food. I haven't been out to eat in a while and if I'm quite honest with you," Hatake eyed the teen briefly before bringing his attention back to the road, "you look like you haven't had a decent meal in a long time. You're nothing but skin and bones."

"And why the hell should you care?" Naruto snapped, suddenly straightening himself upward in defiance. "It's not like you're my father."

Kakashi chuckled, infuriating the younger male even more. "Thank Kami-sama for small favors."

Naruto huffed, but otherwise didn't say anything else. He instead brought his awareness to the clear window on his side. He then found himself engrossed in the fast paced motion of the vehicle, the world seemingly flying by as he watched it in a semblance of mixing colors.

When the vehicle slowed to a moderate speed, the tanned boy saw that the two were in the better part of the city, one of the middle class districts. Kakashi then parked the car in front of a red and black building that housed a well known Japanese restaurant.

The aroma emerging from the two story shop was very enticing and Naruto was sure if his mouth hadn't been closed it would have watered. The silver headed man had turned off the ignition and had stared right at his student with an expectant look. The blonde wanted at first to stubbornly refuse the offer of free food. _What the fuck do I look like, some charity case? _

But as the man carried on watching him, Naruto uncrossed his arms and lowered his head so that his golden bangs covered his eyes.

"Why did you bring me here?" The teen whispered.

"I told you; to get something to eat." This was said just as softly. Despite his cheekiness, the masked teacher didn't want his pupil to feel as though he wasn't worth it.

"What if I said I wasn't hungry?"

"Then I would think you were lying."

"I don't need you."

"I don't believe that."

Naruto raised his head and stared right back at the older male. "I have somewhere I need to be."

"This won't take too long."

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?" Naruto asked with a sigh.

"Nope." He didn't miss a beat.

"This sucks."

"I never said it wouldn't."

"You're weird." Blank stare.

"I know." Moon crest shaped eyes…er, rather, 'shown' eye.

After some more banter and some unorthodox way of persuasion, the duo found themselves in the same restaurant, waiting in a long line behind hungry and lively paying customers. The place was packed in the inside; kids had just gotten out of school and adults were now off of work.

Naruto could admit to himself that he was indeed hungry and that although he had never missed a meal, there was no telling how well fed he would be on certain days. Still, the blonde haired boy was becoming increasingly impatient. It also didn't help matters that he was becoming quite annoyed with his mask wearing teacher. What the hell was the fool smiling about anyway?

"I wasn't lying when I said I needed to be somewhere," the blonde mumbled irritably after a while.

By now, Kakashi had brought out his favorite erotic book. "Is where you have to be so important that you would skip out on a free meal?"

_No. _"Yes."

A flip of his page in the book. "Then, pray tell, where do you _need _to be, Uzumaki?"

Naruto frowned at the man's slight insolence, his words dying in his throat as he decided to be tight lipped about where exactly he needed to be. The whiskered teen couldn't understand it. What was his sensei's sudden interest in him? He knew it couldn't be anything sexual; the man would have tried something by now. So, what was it? Was this silver headed educator trying to, dare he think it...'help' him? If so, what the hell for? No one else gave a damn about him.

Kakashi rose one delicate eyebrow at the boy's silence. _Must have struck a nerve._

Contrary to what Naruto may have originally thought, it really didn't take them too long to reach the front of the line. The woman at the counter gave them both a warm smile, her eyes landing on the teen's bruised appearance in question but otherwise not voicing her concerns. She asked the two of them what they wanted to order.

"You can have anything you like." The silver haired male said from beside him.

"Anything I like?"

"Anything." The man confirmed.

Looking back at the woman, Naruto gave a lopsided smile while twisting his hands together nervously. "Do you have any...ramen?" The lady nodded and smiled more; the blonde immediately beamed and listed off all that he wanted with his 'precious' ramen in a mountain of excitable rumble.

Fifteen minutes later found the both of them in a booth, the Hatake had a hard time concentrating on his own food. The blonde across from him was slurping loudly, licking his lips periodically all the while. Some of the customers were giving both males dirty looks. Kakashi could only shrug apologetically in response.

Naruto then finished his ramen with a contented sigh and a rub of his belly. The happy smile that illuminated his tan face was enough to warm the masked man's heart. It was ridiculously endearing.

"I see that you enjoyed that." Kakashi commented with a snicker as he resumed munching on his own meal.

An enthusiastic nod was the blonde boy's response. The blonde then seemed to lose interest in what ever else the silver headed man was about to say as he drunk and slurped his soft drink in a similarly unacceptable manner as he did with his ramen. It was as though the boy had never learned proper table etiquette.

And even after the older man finished his rations, the two had remained seated. Naruto's happy expression had all but gone to the wind to be replaced by a bored look as he gazed out the window to view the inner workings of normal, everyday life. Kakashi mused, as he watched the young teen, that the boy couldn't look more vulnerable than he did right then.

The Hatake could see that behind those uncaring eyes was a layer full of longing; a longing so heated and profound, it made you wonder what sort of atrocities such a young boy his age had been subjected to.

"Hey, Uzumaki..."

The middle school teacher's voice had such an uncertainty to it that it compelled Naruto to turn back around from the window and give him a questioning stare. Kakashi appeared to be fighting with himself internally for awhile. Briefly shaking his head to clear his thoughts, his eye(s) then upturned in way of a smile.

"Nevermind," he voiced instead, disregarding the look of disbelief and slight amusement in his student's eyes, "you said you needed to be somewhere, eh?"

Naruto nodded as both of them stood from the seats and grabbed leftovers to take to the trash. On their way across the restaurant, Kakashi began to give slight greetings to a few unfamiliar people. Naruto looked at his teacher in surprise while the other took care of the food.

"You must come here a lot."

Kakashi trademark shrugging made the young teen want to chuckle. "Like I said before, I haven't gone out to eat in a while. But when I do, this place is one of my favorite places to go to. Unfortunately, this is also the place where I met the most infuriating man on the planet. I hope we don't run into..."

"My eternal rival has returned!"

"...Too late."

A black haired man with a green jumpsuit nearly ran over Naruto as said man gave Kakashi a big bear hug. Naruto giggled behind his raised palm as his teacher looked crossed between trying to breathe properly from the crushing embrace or wanting to murder the other man.

The blonde wanted to straight out laugh when he got a good look at the other man's appearance. His bushy eyebrows and good guy demeanor reminded Naruto of a boy named Lee who went to his same school, one of his only peers to not taunt or hate him. The again, Lee was another kid that was considered a freak.

"Kakashi-san, long time no see, my friend," the dark brunette stated, releasing the other man 'gently', "how is everything? You're still teaching, right?"

"Yep. Still teaching." Kakashi answered curtly.

"Yosh! Your youthfulness beams brightly within you!" He gave the silver haired man a pearly white smile before his obsidian eyes came to rest on the blonde haired teen. His large eyebrows furrowed when he glanced at the younger; Naruto fidgeted on his heels thinking the man was going to question the bruises, instead the man's face cleared and he smiled just as brilliantly as before. "And whose this young gentleman?"

"Gai, this is one of my students, Naruto Uzumaki. Uzumaki, meet Might Guy, Green Beast Extraodinaire." The masked man drawled in a bored tone.

"Hi." Naruto said with a small wave.

"It is nice to meet you, young Naruto." The man Gai said softly, nearly shocking Kakashi with his outward calmness. Inwardly, the other man was feeling a bit uneasy as he stared at the young teen. The blonde Uzumaki looked familiar but Gai couldn't place where he had seen him before.

Kakashi looked back and forth between Gai and Naruto. He frowned when he saw that the older man was gaping at the teen the same way some of the other teachers at the school did. He decided to defuse the situation before it became any more tense.

"I'm sorry to cut this short," Kakashi said, "but I need to get the boy home before his parents start to worry."

"Of course," Gai said recovering quickly, the hazy sheen disappearing from his eyes, "I hope we meet again soon. Don't be a stranger!"

"Take care." Kakashi said, grabbing his student's shoulders and ushering him out of the restaurant.

"Goodbye, Kakashi-san...Naruto." He stated quietly, well after the duo had already left.

* * *

The ride through downtown felt so strained that you would have no other choice but to suck in your breath in order breathe properly. There was more activity occurring in these streets; the traffic was more or less vexing with the slowness of the vehicles. Because of this, it took a lot longer to get Naruto 'home' than the silver haired teacher had initially assumed.

The neighborhood in which they were passing wouldn't be considered horrible, but there was an underlining of working class and low middle class individuals living there. Kakashi just prayed that they would stop soon; he figured that the blonde lived close or even in the slums after their encounter at the repair shop. Nevertheless, the man wanted nothing more but for the boy to not be exposed to such scarcity.

"You can drop me off there," said the teen, as he pointed to the left side.

Kakashi flicked on the turn signal and maneuvered his way through the busy lanes. He gradually ceased his car's movements as they settled in front of an elevated building that looked as though it belonged on the other side of town. The entrance and feel to it was of a tasteful exterior which included automatic sliding glass doors.

"Nice place." The man commented rather dryly.

Naruto removed his seat belt before saying, "My Godfather has interesting tastes."

Kakashi watched his student pensively. _Does that mean there are no parents to speak of? _He then decided to let that piece of information go in the back of his mind, for now.

Right before he was going to let himself out, the blonde studied his teacher for a couple of seconds and then replied. "I wanted to, uh, thank you for buying me food. It...well, I don't say this very often. So, yeah, thanks."

Even behind his mask Kakashi couldn't have hid his smile. "You're welcome, Uzumaki."

The tanned teen lifted his body out of the seat and shut the door. He didn't leave immediately; he spun back around and crossed his arms over the car's open window and brought his head down to Kakashi's eye level.

"You know, you can drop the whole Uzumaki crap and call me by my first name."

The older man smirked. "Okay. I expect to see you bright and early tomorrow...Naruto." _Maybe you're not hiding, after all._

"Sure thing, sensei!" The boy said with a full blown smile before running off into the crowds.

What the silver headed middle school teacher was unaware of was that Naruto followed his vehicle with his eyes as he changed lanes and seemingly vanished into the commotion of the other cars.

When he deemed that the man was far enough away, he made his way to the front of the building, mentally hoping that his godfather was available and not his slimy, pasty looking associate Orochimaru. It gave the blonde unwanted chills just thinking about that creepy man.

* * *

**Fifth chapter complete. Don't worry, Gai's role will be more significant as the story progresses. He's not just the comic relief.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 6**

_"Recognition is the greatest motivator."__ - _**Gerald C. Eakedale**

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You, as a person, never truly forget where you had originally come from, even if you had been away for so many years or even if you happened to hate its very existence. A place of upbringing can be a place that is imprinted in your mind, and no matter what you do, you cannot escape from it. For fourteen year old Sasuke Uchiha, the same could be said for him in both circumstances.

The stoic black haired boy was standing in front of a huge building, looking up at his newly appointed middle school in an almost disdainful fashion. His older brother and guardian, Itachi, watched the other from his expensive BMW vehicle a several feet away near the curb with a blank expression. The older Uchiha was beginning to think that he had made a mistake in coming back to their childhood hometown – a home which was filled with good memories but also with some _terrifying _ones as well.

Six years earlier, the two teens' parents, the prestigious Uchihas, had been brutally murdered in their large Victorian styled home. Itachi figured that the only reason he and his younger brother had survived was because both of them had been at school at the time.

Itachi remembered that day perfectly – how he and Sasuke had both said goodbye to their parents, a nod from their father and a hug from their mother; how Itachi had escorted the younger to the bus stop before heading to his own; how the rest of his school day had gone splendidly, he had gotten an A on his History test, the winning goal when his PE class had played soccer, and received many love confessions from many different girls; and how, after picking up Sasuke, he and the youngest Uchiha had stopped fully across the street with terror on their faces when they saw police cars and crime scene tape all around their home.

The authorities had never caught the culprit or culprits. It almost seemed like it was an open and shut case; the only thing the police had to go on was circumstantial evidence. Nothing in the home had been out of place or taken, they had concluded. Whoever was responsible was, in everyone's opinion including Itachi's, someone the Uchihas had known personally. Furthermore, all the persons of interest had been ruled out and both boys to the day were still frightened of the idea that their parents' killer would come back for them.

The years that followed were with the brothers being separated at various times from one foster home to the next. When Itachi had finally turned eighteen, he decided to use his wealth and family name to gain custody of his brother. It took a grueling nine months for all the proceedings to be handled and fulfilled, but once it was done, the boys were content. Well, at least as content as two orphaned teens could be.

And now, five months later, the two had come back to their hometown and had settled in quite well. The only thing Itachi was worried about was his brother's mental state. After losing the only true friend he had ever had a year before their parents' death and losing both his mother and father, Sasuke had built up an icy exterior where he refused to open up to anyone anymore. Even with a crowd of kids surrounding him to attend school – some were even giving him curious looks - the younger teen continued to stand there seemingly unaware of the world around him.

Rolling the car window down to distract himself from his thoughts, Itachi stuck his head out and said as loud as he could, "I'll be right here to pick you up when school lets out. Have a good day, little brother."

Turning his head to stare at his brother over his shoulder, Sasuke gave the older sibling a curt nod before finally moving his legs to enter into the school. Itach sighed, rolling the window back up to drive away from the adolescent-filled atmosphere.

_What am I ever going to do with you, Sasuke...?_

* * *

The stares. They were unnerving.

The whispers. They were annoying.

And the pity. Now, _that _just made him angry.

Sasuke was smart enough to not encourage his peers' curiosity, recognition, awe, admiration, or pity by giving any sort of comment. He resumed sauntering ahead in the hallway, ignoring the others' stares as though he was some kind of magnificent being from a different world. He discretely fiddled with his folded class schedule that was hidden in his pants pocket as he walked.

He had memorized all his teachers and their room numbers and was now heading to his first class - with a man named Kakashi Hatake. Sasuke mentally snorted. _Sounds like a total incompetent, _he couldn't help but think.

He reached the said classroom before the last bell had rung; he had always been punctual when it came to being on time, after all. He was greeted with only four other students in the room. Three of them he recognized from when he went to grade school: the pink haired brain Sakura Haruno, the lazy yet brilliant Shikamaru Nara and his childhood rival Neji Hyuuga. The other student was a brown haired boy that he had never seen before.

He narrowed his eyes as Neji narrowed his own to him when he stalked in the aisles between the desks and sat in the back of the room on the far right. Shikamaru and the unknown boy had pretty much ignored him, but Sakura's green eyes had been on him the whole time. He inwardly groaned when he saw the girl's eyes light up in recognition and a cutesy blushed appeared on her cheeks.

The pink accessorized girl looked like she wanted to go over to him and start a conversation. Sasuke scowled at her to keep her away, he was already frustrated enough as it was...and where the hell was the teacher? He found it disconcerting that an adult whom was meant to help grow their minds wasn't even in the damn classroom! The teen glared at the door, internally willing the man to arrive. Sakura didn't seem as though she were fazed by his irate attitude and was in the process of rising from her seat when the bell rang piercingly through the room.

Hordes of teenage students suddenly erupted into the classroom. Another girl from Sasuke's childhood - Ino Yamanaka - stopped briefly to stare at him before taking her own seat next to her pink haired friend. Both girls giggled and blushed as they glanced back at the handsome Uchiha, with Sakura pointing at him all the while.

A few others noticed his appearance, some staring at him more openly than others. Right when he thought he was going to lose his mind and snap at everyone, the silver haired Hatake arrived inside and brought booklets out to rest on top of his table. If Sasuke had been anybody else, he would have laughed at the absurdity of the man having something as 'cliché' as a mask covering more than half of his face.

There was still chatter in the classroom as Hatake wrote down the day's lesson on the board. When he had turned back around to face his students, his lone eye landed on the Uchiha. The boy felt like he was being scrutinized underneath a magnifying glass. He just hoped the man didn't make him introduce himself in front of the class.

"Welcome, new student of mine." The weird teacher blurted out instead.

All eyes then came to turn and look straight at him. Sasuke clenched his fists underneath his desk at the unwanted attention. Leave it to this man to make the awkwardness of being the 'new' student an even more infuriating event. Fortunately, that's all the man said to his presence and began to lecture his class afterwards. The majority of the room spun back around to give their full attention to the older male, but a lot of the females were still gazing at him.

Tightening his fist, Sasuke decided to ignore the stares and focused on what the silver headed man was in fact teaching. After a couple of minutes, the Uchiha actually discovered that despite the older man's quirks, he was quite the teacher. He was surprisingly intelligent and had an opened mind. Sasuke began to relax with this knowledge.

When fifteen minutes had gone by, the classroom door was nearly broken when the person that entered swung it open harshly. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the wild haired boy up front, his attire was a faded orange shirt that showed the lower part of his stomach, black skinny jeans that hung too low on his hips, and combat boots. _What kind of self-respecting person wears something like that to school?_

"Why are you late to my class, Na-Uzumaki?" Kakashi asked, although his voice sounded almost concerned. _Uzumaki? That name sounds familiar..._

"Busy," was the simple reply.

The raven haired teen was about to forget all about the boy and ignore him like he did with the rest of the world when his obsidian eyes settled on the whisker marks on the other boy's cheeks.

_"Hey, Sasuke-teme, you know I hate you, right?" A wide smile contradicted that statement-more-than-question._

_An Uchiha original smirk. "Yeah. And I hate you too, Naruto-dobe."_

Except for a momentary flinch from his side, no one would have noticed that the young Uchiha had reacted to the reveal of the blonde's face. Yet, he couldn't believe it, his childhood best friend that had mysteriously disappeared one day was standing not even twelve feet away from him and the tanned dobe didn't even bat an eyelash when his crystalline orbs connected with his own.

Sasuke was astounded that his eyes looked so...dead. Haunted. It was though he had seen more in his fourteen years of life than even an old man had on the brink of his one hundredth year. Kakashi then waved his hand in a sort of dismissal with a sigh, and the blonde walked down only to trip over one of the boys' feet as said boy gave Naruto a sneer.

One or two snickers were heard, but it appeared as though the teen wasn't upset at all about the obvious taunt. Naruto straightened up his stance and continued to make his way to his seat. Another classmate, a girl this time with multicolored hair, tried the same thing, but the Uzumaki easily overstepped her protruding foot.

He then turned his head to stare at her; the girl who had looked smug at first looked rather frightened as the classes' pariah gave her a cold gaze. Most of the students looked at one another in confusion. One of the reasons why a lot of the blonde's peers targeted him was because he had never physically fought back against them. Most had wanted to get a reaction out of him but had always failed to do so. Had he finally decided to seek retribution?

A cough from the front made the seemingly possessed teen blink his eyes. "Are you okay, Uzumaki?"

Naruto slowly turned his head to glance at his teacher. Everyone could tell that even Hatake was a bit disturbed by the blonde's behavior. A few gasps were sounded when the boy's eyes lost the dead look to them and warmth crept in while a genuine smile appeared on his countenance.

"Yeah. I'm good. Thank you for asking, sensei."

Sasuke watched the exchange with many questions swirling around in his head. Where had his friend been all this time? Why did the dobe have such cold eyes when he had been such a happy-go-lucky kid before? Why did it seem like their classmates didn't like him? But more importantly, why did he only seem to lose his coldness when confronted with their teacher? It seemed like he wasn't the only one that had had such a horrible childhood.

* * *

Naruto knew that the Uchiha had wanted to speak with him during Kakashi-sensei's class. As he stepped out of the middle school building two and a half hours earlier than he was supposed to while the wind brushed his disorganized bangs in his face, the blonde thought back to that morning. He recalled how the raven had gaped at him with a look of disbelief and recognition. It was funny that after all these years he was reacquainted with his best friend from back in the day.

And even though it seemed like Naruto didn't recognize him, all their childhood memories had floated into his mind the minute they looked at one another. It was nostalgia at its finest. Regrettably, the blonde haired teen knew that it was best if his old friend never interacted with him, for both their sakes.

He was glad for once that he wasn't the main focus during their lunch break. All of his peers had been more interested in the Uchiha. Naruto did feel kind of sorry for the older boy when a group of girls had tried to comfort him about his 'misfortunate'. Naruto had heard a couple years back about the raven's parent's murder. It made his skin crawl just thinking about it. And every night, for about a year after he had heard the blonde would give a silent pray to his long lost friend to be happy and to be safe. He reasoned that at least one of them should have that luxury.

His musings had been so cluttered and he had been so preoccupied that he hadn't realized that he arrived in the slums faster than any time previous. With a crunch sound of a fallen leaf that just happened to be underneath his left boot, his thoughts disappeared from him, at least for the time being. He then noticed that a girl a few years older than him was giving his a sultry smile near a vacant alleyway he had entered. He gave the smile right back as she gestured for him to come closer with only her index finger.

"Hey, Kyuubi, it's been awhile. You available?" The sexy girl asked as he came to stand in front of her, sneaking her arm around the younger boy's waist.

"Just name your price, baby, and I'll be willing to deal."

Unbeknownst to the two teenagers, dark eyes were watching them from a building not too far with shock and apprehension.

* * *

"Bye, Gai, enjoy the rest of your day!" Kurenai Yuhi, a nice woman whom was excited because she had just received her license from the social welfare department, shouted to one bowl-cut wearing enthusiastic man as she put the boxing gear she had purchased as a reward to herself in her huge purse.

"Thank you, Kurenai-san! The same to you as well." Gai Maito bellowed back just as loudly as he waved goodbye with his hand the money the woman had just given him.

The youth-obsessed Gai then put the cash in the register and proceeded to clean up the surface of his desk where he did all his business. Maito had a big smile on his face as he worked, still slightly unable to believe that all his hard work and saved money made it possible for him to buy an available space for him own boxing studio slash store.

He had just opened his business a few months before, and already his store was a success. Part of the reason was because the building was located in the downtown slums. The residents that were his customers had come to his shop to enroll in self defensive classes and to learn certain fighting techniques.

It did his heart good to know that he could help people to help themselves. And as the man started to whistle in his 'youthful' glory, his eyes caught two teenagers across the street in a sort of intimate embrace. It was a blonde boy and brunette girl giving each other what Gai thought at first was the look of two new lovers.

But as he stopped his cleaning and ceased movement with his rag, he discovered that the look of love was actually a look of lust. The blonde teen, who looked like a little boy compared to the developed girl that was using her hands to brush the boy's lower stomach, had the bedroom look on his face, his eyes were hooded and his cheeks were rosy.

The red tint to his tan face made his whisker marks more pronounced and with that, Gai recognized the young man as the boy Kakashi-san had said was his student to him the other day as 'Naruto'. Yet, as the girl shoved a wad of yen in his pocket and led him away, Gai knew exactly where he had seen that boy before Kakashi had ever introduced him. He had seen the blonde out in the slums weeks before in the same condition - with an older girl giving him money.

As dark doe eyes continued to stare outward even as the young people vanished from his sight, Maito had one thing on his mind: his rival and friend Kakashi's innocent looking student was in fact a prostitute.

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**Sixth chapter complete. Yay. The introduction of Sasuke and Itachi! And now you have an idea of where Gai's role may be heading...hehe. Hurray, to the new year!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 7**

"_A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down." _–** Arnold H. Glasow**

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The transition of summer leaves to autumn leaves on numerous trees can be often an overlooked development that is in fact one of the beauties and wonders of nature. Kakashi, in all his tardiness with having to arrive at his job, was absently staring at one of these mentioned trees with something akin to amazement.

His beloved orange book was nearly forgotten on his side as he rested the paperback on his outer thigh with the tip of his fingers. A single leaf suddenly ascended downward effortlessly, landing right on top of his left shoe. He glanced down at the fallen greenery for a long extended period of time, his mind in a haste of questions yet was slow with its copious of answers. _Just like with nature – simple yet complex…_

"Is this why you're sometimes late to class? Because you are too busy staring at absolutely nothing?"

Kakashi snapped his head to the voice, slightly flabbergasted that his blonde student was standing right next to him, watching him, and the older male hadn't even noticed nor sensed his presence. What was even more shocking was that the boy appeared more bruised than before and his clothing was layered and baggy. His dark hoodie covered most of his golden head; his bangs were the only locks of hair exposed.

"What happened to you?" The middle school teacher questioned in reply as he viewed the teen's battered face while cleverly disregarding what the boy had asked him.

"Don't you remember, sensei?" Naruto began airily, as though the man should have known the answer. "I got into a fight at school."

Kakashi frowned and put his book back into his deep pocket. "Don't insult my intelligence, Naruto. I know you didn't have that many bruises on you the other day. So, tell me now – what happened?"

"Oh, I get it," Naruto replied evenly, the identifiable haze of coldness appearing on his face, "I'm supposed to answer all _your _questions, and still be okay with you not answering _mine_."

Not waiting to see whether the man would respond to him or not, Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets and turned away from the other to start walking on the sidewalk in the direction of his school that was a few feet in front of the two.

As expected, Kakashi hurried along and fell in step with the young teen as both made their way inside the building and into the almost empty hallway. A few students that were late to their own classes peered at the teacher and younger male in curiosity, yet both Kakashi and Naruto ignored their inquisitiveness.

"You told me you had nothing to hide. Were you lying to me then?" Kakashi brought his hand down on Naruto's right shoulder in a friendly gesture as they continued their trek. The boy shrugged it off with a glare.

"Leave me alone."

Naruto sauntered forward, an angered scowl emerging from his lips. But, right before he was able to reach the door to Hatake's classroom, said man grasped both of the boy's shoulders and spun him around to face him, an uncharacteristic seriousness to his seen face.

"I know those bruises didn't just come from here," Kakashi repeated himself, suggesting that he meant the school and the fight the blonde had been involved in, "if someone is hurting you – someone at home – I'm required by law to alert–"

"Can you please just drop it already? Nothing's wrong here."

"Why don't I believe you, Naruto?" The silver headed man was continued looking at him, the older still not persuaded.

"What difference does it make?" The blonde lost his anger and sighed in resignation. "And anyway, why are you so concerned all of a sudden? You're just my teacher."

"I'm concerned _because _I'm your teacher."

Naruto shook his head, feeling more exhausted than he could ever recall. He didn't answer the older male as Kakashi looked at him with the same concern. He just raised his hands to remove the other hands from his shoulders and entered the class without so much as a backward glance. The only thing to come out of his mouth was one word:

"Liar."

* * *

The noise inside the cafeteria seemed to become livelier as more and more teens poured into the dining hall. Naruto was keenly isolated at a circular table from the various groups of his peers he had; he was sitting all the way in the back of the room near the exit doors. Eagerly, he was eating at his lunch as though it were his last meal before an expected execution.

Outwardly, he appeared as any other teen with the exception of being by himself. Yet, his thoughts were on overdrive, and he couldn't help but feel annoyed with his silver haired teacher that less than a couple weeks ago hadn't cared one way or another about him. What was worse, the blonde had no doubt that the man would call social services on him if he found out about his living conditions.

_I'm just going to have to make sure he doesn't find out._

He was so absorbed within his own thinking that he was unaware that a certain someone had came and sat down with their food tray at his table. Distractedly chewing on his morsel, the blue eyed boy was clearly not paying attention to the dark haired figure that was gawking at him with both irritation and amusement.

"Hn. Still a dobe."

Raising his head up at the familiar insult, Naruto inwardly bristled at his childhood friend across from him. Instead of voicing his ire, however, he spoke rather calmly. "You're sitting at my table."

"Way to state the obvious, genius," Sasuke Uchiha said sarcastically with a smug smirk, "I could sit wherever I please."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just surprised you'd want to sit next to someone like me."

Sasuke looked incredulous. "Someone like you? What is that supposed to mean? Can you honestly sit there and act like you don't even recognize me?" Naruto resumed swallowing his food impolitely, seemingly acting as though the other boy wasn't there. Sasuke's eyes flashed with anger. "Don't ignore me." He said dangerously.

Naruto inattentively regarded the pale Uchiha with a tilt of his head, yet the glaze in his eyes told the older teen that he wasn't actually looking at him, but he was in fact looking _through _him. Sasuke ignored the twist in his stomach at the way the blonde was staring at him and at his beaten looking countenance. He was about to say more until girlish squeals reached their table.

A collection of girls had stalked toward the two boys; the three up front happened to be Sakura and Ino, along with a redheaded bespectacle girl named Karin. One of the females in the middle of the cluster elbowed Sakura with a nudge so that she would have to take the initiative to speak.

The same girl happened to whisper in what she believed had been secrecy, "Go ahead and ask him." Even when everybody surrounding her had heard, she still felt the need to cup her mouth.

"Uh, hi, Sasuke-kun," the pink haired girl greeted shyly, a blush appearing on her cheeks when the Uchiha's eyes focused on her, "we were wondering...if you wanted to come and sit at our table."

"No."

Sakura and the rest of the girls looked taken aback from his straight out refusal. With a quick look at Naruto, Sakura bravely bent down to whisper near the Uchiha's ear. "Please, Sasuke, it would mean so much to us. Plus, you don't want to sit next to him," she then again looked at the Uzumaki, this time with a frown, "he's bad news."

Ino, who had heard her friend quite clearly, said haughtily and loudly. "You should listen to her Sasuke-kun. I mean, just look at him. He probably has some sort of disease."

The mean spirited females laughed outright while Ino folded her arms and gave the other blonde a superior grin. Sasuke felt his anger rise and was about to lash out at the Yamanaka, but Naruto's impassive voice stopped him.

"They're all right, you know," all eyes glanced at him with surprise, not expecting him to speak, Naruto's eyes were gaping right at the Uchiha's unblinkingly as he spoke, "I'm contagious."

The group of girls actually took steps back at his admission.

An unanticipated silence then fell on the crowd of middle schoolers neighboring around the circular table. Sakura and Ino were both looking back and forth between the two males staring each other down in confusion. Sasuke was determined to break through the wall his used-to-be best friend had built to protect himself from the outside world. As the Uchiha figured out that Naruto was challenging him with the uncomfortable gaze, he knew he had to do what ever it took to reach out and reconnect with his friend.

"As I said before, no. I'm staying right here." Sasuke leaned back and smirked in his decision.

"But Sasuke..." Sakura began to protest.

"What part of the word 'no' don't you understand?"

The girl Karin suddenly rounded on the blonde boy who had pretty much tuned out the conversation, and started with a screech. "What did you do to have Sasuke-kun turn on us like that? Why is he sitting with you, you nasty-"

"Because I wanted to."

Karin halted in her rant and was bewildered and a bit frightened to see her ultimate dream guy glaring so hatefully at her. She snapped her mouth shut and backed away from Naruto. Said boy continued to eat his lunch nonchalantly.

"I'd rather sit with him, then sit with any of you leeches."

The mass of females glanced at one another with crestfallen expressions on their faces. Not completely sure what to do with themselves and with Sasuke still peering at them angrily, the girls turned away and dispersed amongst themselves leisurely, some giving the uncaring blonde glares of their own. Naruto, still not even looking at the girls, started to finish his food. His indifference to the whole affair just rose their anger.

Once the girls were out of ear shot, Sasuke brought half of his anger onto the blonde. "What was that?" Naruto didn't say anything, but gave the older teen a look as if to say 'what was what?'

Sasuke continued with annoyance. "You just sat there while those girls insulted you. Why didn't you defend yourself?"

"Because I don't care." Naruto said, like it was the most simplest thing in the world.

"You don't care?" Sasuke repeated to himself in disbelief. How could someone not care that they were basically getting smashed on like that?

"That's right." Naruto countered before getting up off the seat of the table.

"Where are you going?"

"I finished my lunch, so I'm leaving," he threw his remaining food in the trash and said over his shoulder with an unintentional grin, "See ya, Uchiha."

"I'm going to sit next to you tomorrow." It was a promise, not a question. A jaunty wave was all he got as the younger teen left the cafeteria through the back doors. Sasuke internally smiled to himself about that. He was going to get his friend back, no matter what.

* * *

The staff of the middle school seemed to erupt from the conference room as many educators exited from their doors and headed their way to the parking lot to go on home. Kakashi had an urge to rub his temples with his fingers after all the headaches and stresses he had had to deal with all day. While lazily stalking down the school's hallway, the masked man took out his trusted hentai paperback and opened it with ease.

He witnessed as some of the other teachers gave him looks of disgust or exasperation. He didn't pay them any mind though; he just resumed his walking, wanting to remove the wandering thoughts of a certain student from his mind.

Truth be told, he was beginning to feel that his worrying over the kid could lead to him possibly losing his job. It wasn't as though he had an inapproriate interest in the boy, but with how a majority of the people at school treated the teen and with his own unwanted fixation, others might start suspecting something.

Reaching the now darkening outside within minutes, Kakashi dug in his pocket and quickly grabbed his car keys, his Corvette being the last vehicle at the end of the parking line. He had just opened his car door when another vehicle rode along passed him, a familiar brunette teacher waved at him from the driver's window before taking off. He stared back at the Umino's vehicle even after the other man had turned into the main street.

He decided to wait for most of the cars to be gone before starting up his. Kakashi slowly sat himself down in the driver's seat with the door ajar and opened his book even more. When a shadow appeared near his car, he thought nothing of it; he assumed it was another teacher leaving the school's building. He was proven wrong when a tentative knock on his front window was used to get his attention. He was surprised to see Gai standing there nervously.

"Gai," he said, pocketing his book, "what are you doing here?"

"I remember you saying something about working at this school once, my rival and friend." The dark haired man responded without his usual enthusiasm. "I've been waiting here for you for awhile."

"Yeah, I had a long staff meeting that was boring as hell. What do you want? If this has anything to do with running laps with you all over the city, my answer's still no."

"No, no, it's nothing like that. It's something else..." he trailed off unsurely.

"Well, could you hurry this up? I'm really tired and I just want to go home."

Maito was having an internal battle with himself, that much was clear to the Hatake. He was almost tempted to snap at the other man and tell him to get on with what ever needed to be said. And even though Kakashi didn't necessarily dislike the other man, he did at times wish that the two had never even came into contact, let alone came to label themselves as 'friends' and/or 'rivals'.

After a long pause of silence, Kakashi said almost jokingly. "If you're just going to stand there and waste my time, I'm going to have to leave." He was in the process of shutting his door when a strong hand stopped him and prevented him from doing so.

Gai, with a look of concentration Kakashi hadn't seen in ages, spoke softly. "Wait. I need to talk to you. It's about your student, Naruto."

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**Seventh chapter complete.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 8**

"_Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth." – _**Blaise Pascal**

* * *

The late evening had continued, the clouds in the dimming sky were beginning to sway smoothly in the atmosphere as the frigid winds permeated into the air. Kakashi and Gai had stalked to their separate vehicles and had headed out of the parking lot to drive to the small café that was a couple of blocks away from the middle school to talk. The two had remained in an awkward silence even as they entered the coffee shop and the scent of sweets and pastries assaulted their noses.

They found a seat at one of the round tables that was next to a colossal painting hanging on the wall. Since there were only a few patrons inside, a waitress promptly came out to write down their orders; the pair only requested a small black coffee and a vanilla frappuccino, respectively. After the waitress left, Kakashi leaned back nonchalantly in his chair and eyed the other across from him as he rubbed his clothed chin in pretend thoughtfulness.

Gai appeared to be in a reverie, his bushy eyebrows furrowing in all his contemplation. Kakashi observed him for a few more minutes while an unease crept up deep inside of him. It was a rare occurrence for the Might Guy to be this serious and introspective. Kakashi had to wonder what the other man needed to speak to him about regarding his wayward student.

"So, what's this about my student?" Kakashi asked, snapping the brunette man out of his apparent daydream.

Gai stared at the mask wearing educator reverently, wording his sentence quite carefully. "First, if I am to be so bold, I want to hear what you know about this boy Naruto, Kakashi-san." There, that seemed like a good place to start off this upcoming conversation.

"Not much," Kakashi admitted. "I know that some of the kids at school treat him harshly, and I know that he lives in or around downtown with an alleged godfather of his."

As the silver headed male stated this, the waitress from before dropped off their drinks and then swiftly walked back to the front of the shop where more customers were coming through the entrance's glass door.

_Didn't Kakashi-san mention that the boy had parents? _Maito decided to ignore that tidbit of information for the time being. "And have you ever noticed anything...strange about him?"

Kakashi laughed humorlessly, imagining the blue eyed boy's face and the hooded gaze he sometimes wore. Kakashi didn't like where this was going, so he played it off lightheartedly. "Of course he's strange. He's a teenager. I should know, I have to deal with those brats almost everyday."

"I'm not sure you are taking our talk seriously, my friend."

Kakashi frowned suddenly, resisting the urge to cross his arms over his chest. "Then tell me what you really want to say." To distract himself, he clutched his cupped beverage and took a quick sip from the plastic opening.

Gai looked like he wasn't going to say anything else pertaining to Naruto, but then he blurted out quite hurriedly: "I don't think you should be hanging around with that boy anymore!"

The frown deepened. "Stop beating around the bush, Gai. Tell me what this is really about, or I'm leaving–"

"Your student's a prostitute!"

The boisterous man's outburst turned some heads toward the two, the people of the café gave Gai heated glares and unimpressed glances. Gai unconsciously blushed as he found other eye(s) staring at him. His blush grew anew as he looked over at the silver haired man. The exposed half of Kakashi's face was emotionless, but behind his mismatched eye was an iciness that made the darker haired male want to high tail it out of there.

Meanwhile, the wheels in Kakashi's head were spinning together rapidly. He began thinking about the early morning, when he and Naruto had had that brief disagreement, and all the signs had been there then. _They had been there from the very beginning..._the revealing clothes, the seductive stares, the fact that the teen 'supposedly' lived downtown, and even the bruises from earlier; all those clues had been right in front of him, and he had been none the wiser.

_Kami, do I feel like such an idiot._

As calmly as he could, Kakashi questioned: "How do you know this?" Even with all the signs, Kakashi had to be certain Gai wasn't just spewing nonsense.

"I own a boxing store in downtown. I see a lot of un-youthful things around that area; in fact, some of my customers are people in trouble with the underground. Yesterday, I had the misfortune of seeing your young Naruto engaging in an unlawful encounter with an older female touching him intimately. She then gave him money before the two ran off. A couple of weeks before, I saw him in the same predicament, except with a different girl. I'm so sorry I had to be the one to tell you this."

Kakashi wanted to deny this, he wanted to tell the other man that he were wrong and what he had seen was something else entirely. Yet, even with his muddled mind unraveling into shambles, he knew that everything Gai was telling him was the truth. The information broke his heart, but it also made him very anger.

Taking a deep breath, the middle school teacher said softly, "No, no. I'm actually glad you told me."

"I have to be honest, Kakashi-san – I had wanted to contact the police when I first saw him, but I figured since he is your student, you would be able to handle the situation."

"Oh, it _will _be handled. Don't make any mistake about that."

The two men afterwards conversed with each other some more about Naruto for the next half an hour as they drank their given coffees. Once the two were ready to depart, they both left a tip for the waitress and paid the cashier separately for their beverages. Nothing more was said as they exited the building and climbed into their individual cars.

* * *

Naruto was having a bewildering yet amusing day so far.

Earlier, during Kakashi-sensei's class and lecture, the said teacher had kept giving him looks that ranged from sorrow to confusion to resentment. Naruto hadn't felt one way or another about the older man's stares then; he had still been angry about the Hatake trying to butt into his business the other day. Still, the blonde couldn't help but feel that something huge, even amiss, was bound to happen to him.

As the bell had rung to signal for their next classes, Naruto had noticed that his peers were giving him weird looks as well. There were still some glares, but they weren't as vicious. On a typical school day, the students would either ignore him or gaze at him disgustingly. That wasn't the case this day – a majority of them were gaping at him with new found curiosity. Naruto almost had wanted to do something despicable just so that they would switch back to looking at him as though he were dirt underneath their heels. At least _those _looks were familiar to him.

Before he had had a chance to leave his sensei's classroom completely, the silver headed male had walked right up to him and had grasped his shoulder firmly. Hatake had stayed quiet for a few seconds, but then had spoken with a detached tone.

"Meet me back here after school," was all he had said before releasing Naruto and watching him saunter away from him.

And now on his lunch break, as he sat near his secluded table forking his noodles on his tray, Naruto silently wished he had paid more attention to his teacher's questioning gazes. Why did the man want to see him after school? What had all that been about back there? The blonde didn't even want to contemplate about it, anymore. The musings were giving him a headache.

Naruto wasn't at all surprised to see that Sasuke had came to sit next to him again, although it did irritate him a bit. The irritation increased as the Uchiha's fan girls decided to sit at the table right across from them. The horde of females whispered amongst themselves and looked back and forth between the two males. _No wonder everyone has been looking at me differently, _Naruto thought with disdain. If the great Sasuke Uchiha was sitting with him, then he must be someone of interest, right?

"Good morning, dobe," Sasuke greeted. Naruto said nothing in response.

Feeling the dark haired teen's eyes on him though, Naruto reluctantly replied. "Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm not staring at you, usuratonkachi. I'm just waiting for you to say 'good morning' back. It would be the polite thing to do."

"Too bad I'm not polite."

The girls to their side leaned in, fascinated by the two teens' banter.

Sasuke smirked, as though the whole situation were funny to him. "Well, let me indulge you – I say 'good morning, dobe' to you and you say to me..." _Good morning, teme._

"Go away."

The Uchiha glared at the younger teen heatedly, clenching his fists under the table. "No, I will not 'go away'. You cannot and will not tell me what to do."

"..." Naruto refused to open his mouth.

"Why are you like this, huh? What happened to you to make you act this way?"

Naruto didn't answer; he just stood upward from his seat and walked away, ignoring Sasuke's outraged yells for him to come back. The whiskered teen was ambling through the cafeteria and nearly ran into the Hyuuga girl who had been making her way towards him. Naruto and Hinata stared at each other needlessly. Finally, after what seemed like a long time, Hinata spoke timidly,

"Hi, N-Naruto-kun. I'm sure you already k-know this, but my name is–"

"Hinata Hyuuga, yeah I know. What do you want?" This wasn't asked unkindly, but there was a certain wariness to his question.

The purple haired teen twisted her fingers together one at a time. "I...I was wondering if maybe I could s-sit with you today?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "I already finished my lunch," his orbs then lost their edge and he pointed at the table he had been sitting at before hand, "but you can sit next to the Uchiha over there. He seems rather lonely."

And with that, he strolled off and threw his food in the trash, unaware of the disappointed expression plastered on Hinata's face or the fact that Sasuke had pushed his pride aside to try and chase right after him.

* * *

Naruto stood outside of Kakashi Hatake's classroom door with a guarded countenance. He had stumbled a couple of times previously with his feet in his indecision on whether or not he should up and leave the school without confronting his teacher. The hallways were empty; no one person was in sight, which was just fine with him. He wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone else.

Naruto step forward to the door, his hand in the motion of clasping the handle. He then dropped his hand quickly and decided against it. Just as he was about to revolve his body around to walk out, the door was opened wide by the mask wearing, silver hair defying Kakashi himself. The man gestured with his right index finger for the boy to come inside the room.

It was strange being in the classroom with no other students and with vacant desks bordering them. Kakashi thoroughly washed off the board while Naruto sat down at one of the middle row situated seats. Kakashi must have wanted to stall whatever it was he needed to speak to Naruto about because the minutes that followed were engrossed with the older male straightening up his desk area and looking over his lesson plans in his books.

Naruto scowled in impatience and had actually removed himself from the chair; Kakashi's cool voice halted him in his tracks. "Sit down. I didn't say you could leave." The blonde slowly did as he was told.

"Kakashi-sensei–"

The man lifted his palm up to stop Naruto from saying anything else. The blonde haired teen scrunched his nose in annoyance and slumped downward in his chair as he waited. The time seemed to drag on and on for him until Kakashi's voice floated within the classroom once again.

"You _were_ lying to me."

Naruto snapped his head to peer at the other. "Excuse me?"

Kakashi was standing beside his own desk, his lone eye was penetrating the golden teen. "You had said before that you had nothing to hide."

Uzumaki's heart starting thumbing in his chest, but externally he remained composed. "Didn't we already have this discussion?"

Kakashi stared at the younger male before causally striding around his desk to come and face the other. He was hovering above the seated blonde and it made the cerulean eyed teen slightly nervous. Hatake's hands then slammed hard on the surface of the student's desk causing Naruto to flinch helplessly.

"This isn't a game," he spat bitterly. "I shouldn't have to hear from some looney man that you're out there selling your body to complete strangers."

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief momentarily – _ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh – _and then the same indifference, the same deadened look in his eye, flickered. Naruto stood a second time to leave, but Kakashi was faster. He grabbed onto his younger pupil and seized him tighter as Naruto unexpectedly thrashed in his arms, cursing him, screaming at him to mind his own goddamn business and that he in fact loved whoring himself out to other people.

Kakashi's eye(s) softened in his guilt as he listened to the boy lie through his teeth about how he really felt about the insidious matter. He stayed where he was, holding the furious boy and awaiting the moment when the other would calm down and relax his body. The silver haired man sighed inwardly; he was not looking forward to meeting Principal Sarutobi and explaining to him about the blonde teen's state of affairs.

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**Eighth chapter complete. I know some of my readers are curious about the pairings. Since this is a friendship fic and not a romance fic, I may or may not have any pairings (refer back to warnings in chapter 1). "If" I do decide to have any pairings, I'll let you know. I apologize to any of you who had been confused up till this point. Hope you enjoyed.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 9 **

_"Is it possible to succeed without any act of betrayal?" – _**Jean Renoir**

* * *

He hadn't understood why it had happened.

He hadn't even been aware of the signs that it possibly could – would – happen.

_A comforting hand affectionately stroked soft, golden locks. A blonde man looked down at his replicate son as he resumed the hair grooming and said rather quietly, "You know that I love you, right kiddo? You and Mommy?"_

_Naruto blinked his big, blue eyes confusingly, fidgeting in his blankets. "Sure, Daddy."_

"_And you know that I would never mean to hurt you, right?"_

But he had meant to hurt him, in every sense of the word. The fear had outweighed the pain that fateful day; nevertheless, the lasting effects on young Naruto had remained in his subconscious.

_His father had a tight hold on him, a phantom sharpness pressing into his back as the child sat upward on his bed. It wasn't until the older man had released him from the embrace that Naruto saw the glint of an object in the other's hand. The little boy frowned in perplexity and slight apprehension._

"_Daddy, what's that you're holding?"_

He wished he had known then what he knew now about his father. The man had been mentally ill for most of his adult life, but after his wife's passing the symptoms had begun to increase and his health had started to decline. Naruto couldn't anticipate that his once caring dad would one day lose his sanity. And how could he? He had been a mere seven year old child. What could he have done?

_Minato Namizake was oblivious to his son's screams as he used the blunt of the knife he had snatched from the kitchen to carve three identical lines in each side of the cherub boy's cheeks. __After he had finished his masterful 'creation' minutes later, the crazed man spoke almost monotonously. "Don't worry now. We'll be joining Mommy real soon."_

How could any person prepare for such a life-altering event? How could such a small boy ever comprehend that –

His own father had tried to kill him?

* * *

Kakashi watched silently from his prearranged cushion seat in the waiting room as Principal Sarutobi talked with one of the police officers he had brought into his office in regards to his student Naruto. The said teen was currently in the main hall, being reviewed and questioned by the school's appointed social worker. In the silver haired man's hands was an unwritten confidentiality form that he was legally supposed to fill out and sign before turning into the district office.

Clutching the form in his grasp, Hatake let out a wavering sigh as he thought about all the occurrences that had led up to this crucial point. He felt ashamed that he hadn't been able to help the poor boy in his predicament; but at the same time, there was an unexplained guilt growing in the base of his mind. It was almost as though he had betrayed Naruto's trust in some way for telling others about his situation.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the officials standing near the doorway had been eying him discreetly for the past half an hour. The middle school teacher concluded that the men were distrustful of him because he had been the first one to report the younger boy. To them, Kakashi's given statement could be exaggerated or even false. Still, the wary stares he had been receiving didn't quench the discomfort he felt.

It took another thirty minutes for all the discussions to come to an end. Kakashi was then summoned to the office, and he along with three other males viewed as Naruto was escorted inside and came to stand in front of the principal's desk facing the graying head administrator.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was an elder man who was considered fair and reasonable with both students and staff and as he stared at the impassive blonde, a swelling in his heart came to life. _This boy is only a couple of years older than my grandson, _Hiruzen noted sadly.

"Uzumaki-san," the principal began, bringing his chin to rest on his intertwined fingers. "Please understand that we are not punishing you nor are we judging you. We just cannot allow you to continue living on the streets and prostituting your body." The blue eyed boy remained indifferent, detached. The older man continued regardless. "You'll be taking a ride with Ms. Ayame," he motioned toward the social worker, "to the hospital so that they can check you out. Do you have any questions you'd like to ask?"

"None, Sarutobi-sama," Naruto muttered dispassionately.

With a curt nod, Hiruzen gestured with his aging hand for Ayame and two of the three officers to take their leave with the tanned teen. Kakashi was asked to stay behind and answer some more procedural inquiries. As Naruto ambled passed him, the mask wearing educator felt his stomach drop as the blonde haired boy looked at him one last time with veiled, accusing eyes.

* * *

The drive to the local hospital really wasn't that far of a distance, but to an uninterested Naruto the ride seemed to drag on for eternity. The blonde haired boy had his eyes glued outside of the vehicle's passenger window, leaning against the interior of the car with his left cheek in his palm. It was late in the afternoon and the weather seeping from their surroundings brought an icy chill to Naruto's spine.

A multitude of tall, white buildings came into his line of vision as Ayame entered the car through the front parking lot and stopped in a vacant space. The two of them exited from the car, and made their way to one of the structures in the middle of the unit. Using the elevator on the first floor, the pair walked in the direction of the pediatric center where dozens of children and their parents were waiting to be called.

While Ayame sauntered over to check in at the receptionist's desk, Naruto found a seat at the end of a row of chairs against the wall. He pointedly ignored the curious glances he received from a few of the patients. After some of the other kids had been beckoned inside by a different physician, a man with dark brown hair and a lab coat emerged from one of the backdoors.

"Uzumaki, Naruto?" The man questioned, his dark orbs searching out amongst the many faces that were still in the room. Naruto and the social worker stood upward and strolled forward. The man gave them both a warm smile before shaking hands with the two. "Hello, I'm Doctor Genma Shiranui. I understand that I'll be conducting a full check-up for today?"

"Yes," Ayame spoke graciously, nodding her head, "and possibly a blood and urine sample, otherwise Uzumaki-san will have to return another day."

"That can be done," the doctor assured.

Naruto was led by one of the nurses to an isolated section of the examination area where his weight was estimated and his blood pressure was charted. It took a little over twenty-five minutes for the physical evaluation to be finished. Needless to say, Naruto detested hospitals. The recognizable taupe walls on every inch of the inner building were enough to drive the whisker scarred teen insane with fury. He couldn't believe that he had to go through all this aggravation. It just wasn't worth it to him.

Once his blood and urine were drawn (an experience he'd rather forget), Genma handed the brown haired Ayame his medical overview in paper form. The dark haired man then turned his attention to the blue eyed boy and said with a serious tone, "I'll be expecting you back in a couple of weeks. Take good care of yourself, okay?"

Naruto inwardly snorted, but answered with a soft, "Hai."

The sun was beginning to go down by the time they left the hospital and traveled throughout the city's streets. The anger that Naruto had felt before was now escalating to an almost indescribable elevation. The boy wordlessly fumed in his seat, his arms crossing over his chest with a huff. _It's all Kakashi-sensei's fault! If only he had minded his own business! _Even with his thoughts, Naruto knew that he were partly to blame as well.

He hadn't been careful. He had let his emotions get the best of him. Kakashi Hatake was one of the few people who hadn't treated him like he was an object or a 'thing'. Naruto had unknowingly thrived on such consideration. He had craved it. It was nice for someone to care for him like he was a human being, for a change. But in spite of everything, the teen had made himself too vulnerable, too open. It was no wonder his teacher was able to figure him out.

A movement from his left side broke the blonde from his musings and he looked up to see that Ayame was smiling at him encouragingly. "Here we are." She announced too happily for the teen's liking.

In the frontward setting beyond the window shield stood a two-story white and gray colored traditional house with clean-cut flatlands and a garden on the side of the footpath. Naruto and Ayame climbed out of the vehicle and headed straight to the double doors that issued entrance. Upon reaching the first step, the door was flung opened and a throng of children and one laughing adult raced away from the house and nearly bumped into the social worker and her charge.

Ayame giggled at the children's enthusiasm whereas Naruto grimaced. The two afterward let themselves in the house, making their way across the foyer and to one of the employees sitting behind a small table. The brunette woman asked for the head of the agency and was then was guided four flights of stairs with Naruto following. An older woman with blonde hair and honey eyes greeted them from the hallway.

"Ah, Ayame," the busty other female said with a chuckle. "It has been awhile since your last visit. How have you been?"

"I've been well, Lady Tsunade, thank you. I'm here to drop off one of my new cases, Naruto Uzumaki."

The one identified as Tsunade landed her eyes on the younger blonde. "Good evening, Naruto. My name's Tsunade and I am the head director here." The tanned teen continued in his silence. The older blonde frowned in response. "Stubborn little gaki, isn't he?" Naruto clenched his hands into fists. _This kid's got some spunk. _

"Be friendly, Uzumaki-san. This is the woman who's going to be your temporary guardian," Ayame chastised lightly.

With a heavy sigh, Naruto responded with a terse, "Hey."

As the two women resumed their conversing, the cobalt eyed teen could only think of one thing at that very moment: _I absolutely _hate_ group homes!_

* * *

"Lights out!" A male voice from the corridor commanded.

Various bodies scurried all around the numerous bedrooms as lamps, televisions, computers, and even DVD systems were turned off for the night. Naruto had bounded into his selected bed moments before, internally hoping for the death of one big breasted hag for making him wear a pair of kiddy pajamas. In the darkness of his room, the teenage blonde contemplated on how he was going to run away from the institute.

The bars on the windows and the code lock for the entrance threw his plan of a typical escape down the drain. _I'll just have to pretend to go to school, _he reasoned. It was going to be a difficult thing to do; and to top it all off, he would need to find a place to stay. He sure as hell couldn't rely on his godfather anymore since the man now had to worry about the cops arresting him. He would just have to wing it somehow. Naruto shut his eyes to sleep at the thought.

Three mornings later, the staff of the organization rounded groups of six to ride in any of the three SUV's that were available. Naruto muffled a yawn with his hand as hopped into the back of one of the vehicles, wanting to be as far away from any other person as possible.

Given that he was still allowed to attend the same middle school, Naruto discerned that he could take advantage and flee from the area before any authority figures took notice. The anticipation of such a conquest made the young teen want to bounce in place.

Right before seven thirty, Naruto and four others departed from the van promptly; the woman behind the wheel giving each of them a short wave prior to driving back into traffic. The blonde haired male segregated from his housemates and strode around the school's courtyard trying to buy some time. He didn't need to call attention to himself, after all. The boy had to sneakily get away without running into certain people.

When the first bell rang for the students to head to class, the Uzumaki acted as though he were about to enter the school building. Instead he spun back in the opposite direction and started a steady pace parallel to the grassy sidewalk. Once he was out of sight, he picked up his speed and ran as fast as he could.

The winds whipping through his yellow tresses calmed the sprinting teen immensely. There was just so much freedom with his run; the familiar haze of smoke was filling his lungs as he came closer to the slums of downtown.

Naruto absentmindedly pulled at the itchy sweatshirt and slacks the infuriating Tsunade woman insisted he wear. The golden headed boy couldn't wait to change into his more customary clothes. Not only would he be shedding off the conservative outfit, he would regain the control he felt he had lost days ago. If there was one thing Naruto didn't appreciate, it was having an older civilian attempting to dictate his life. He had promised himself years beforehand that he would never relinquish his rights to another person again.

* * *

"Don't worry now. We'll be joining Mommy real soon."

_His disoriented father's voice reverberated throughout his mind, his slashed cheeks throbbing painfully as tears mixed with blood. Naruto sobbed loudly as he cried in confusion. "W-Why? Why'd you...cut me? I-I don't understand!"_

_With a faraway look in his eyes, Minato's reply was simple, "Don't you want to look your best for Mommy, little fox? I did it just for you. This was _all_ for you."_

* * *

**Ninth chapter complete.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 10**

"_All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." – _**Ralph Waldo Emerson**

* * *

The shimmer from the daylight poured in through the opened window, the gleam mentioned was reasonably irritating a certain redhead as the warmth from the outside blew onto his pale face. Gaara scowled at the sheen in his eyes momentarily before lifting himself into a sitting position on a cushioned bed and bending down to pick up his discarded clothes that had been scattered on the floor of his client's bedroom. Just as he was about to put on his torn shirt, a manicured hand materialized from underneath the rumpled blankets and began caressing his bare back.

"Leaving so soon?" A female voice groggily asked him, the pitch of her voice trying and failing to sound like a seductive purr.

Gaara shrugged indifferently while finishing with his redressing. "I have other engagements," he stated monotonously.

His female customer whined at him childishly, but he decided to ignore her impending tirade. Truthfully, the teen didn't like her nor did he have any ounce of respect for her. The woman was knowingly cheating on her husband and was willing to bring a prostitute into her upscale three-story house while the said man was out of town on business. As far as Gaara was concerned, she was just a means to an end, to earn some extra cash. Sabaku felt justified in not wanting to touch her any more than he already had to.

Without needing to say another word, Gaara stood upward from the bed and ambled in the direction of the doorway; he stopped briefly to collect the yen gathered on top of the table near the hall. The woman continued shouting even as he exited from her residence and walked down the street. _If only I could've strangled her or slit her throat, _the boy thought murderously.

Trekking parallel to the sidewalk, the red headed male spent the next ten minutes making his way to the bus stop at the edge of the corner. On the end of such an intersection was an olive painted hut with the same colored bench inside and a tall sign that read for the westbound course. Gaara took a seat and waited from the scheduled bus to arrive. He scratched at his arms absently as he lounged, slightly feeling the unease of his body.

And it was no wonder he was reacting this way – he hadn't had any of his drugs in hours, and it was really starting to get to him. Well, that and a lot more, including his disgusting boss and those imbecile cohorts of his. Gatou had been much more demanding with his employees since the previous week, to the point where abuse and violence was becoming the norm in their work environment. Gaara was just glad that his mere presence scared off most people; he would have had no problem disposing of anyone who dared tried to lay their hands on him.

A sudden engine sound bursting from his left pulled the teen from his internal reflections. Gaara raised his head as an approaching bus travelled in his direction and came to stop right in front of him. Gaara didn't waste any time as he sauntered into the large vehicle and rummaged in his deep pockets to bring out change for the bus' fare. Once he was done paying the fee, the aqua eyed teen moved forward and found a vacant seat at the back of the bus, suitably away from all the other people on board.

Leaning his head against the cool glass of a window, Gaara shut his eyes fleetingly and let his body relax as the bus resumed on its route. He was seemingly oblivious to everything and everyone around him, to the passersby getting on or off the bus to the one individual speaking loudly into their low-priced cell phone. The smooth movement of the ride was enough to calm his senses and slowly but surely cease the crazed itching of his limbs.

Within less than a half an hour, Gaara heaved at the wired switch that was above his head to signal for his stop. The bus made a complete halt minutes later and dropped him off near the opening of downtown. Disregarding the driver's quiet 'have a good day' mumble, the Sabaku headed towards the sinister-like building that was all too familiar to him.

Entering the foyer of the marbled structure, Gaara overlooked the hungry gazes or hate filled sneers he received from some of the men that were in the vicinity. The teen instead used the elevator and pressed the needed button in order to reach the last floor. As soon as the elevator doors separated, Gaara came face to face with an innocent looking Haku, the effeminate teen was carelessly slanting against the wall in the corridor.

"Good morning, Gaara-san," Haku greeted routinely.

Giving a wary glance to the bodyguard standing beside the both of them, Gaara stated coolly, "I need to see Gatou."

The long haired boy's abrupt smile was full of condescension and deceit. "Unfortunately, Gatou-sama is unavailable at the moment, but I'll be able to help you. I know _exactly_ what you need."

The redhead glowered sourly at the other teen. "They called you and told you I was coming, didn't they?"

Haku didn't answer his inquiry, his secretive smile still in place. "Follow me," was the only instruction given as the brunette stepped away from the wall and started walking in the opposite direction.

Gaara considered not trailing after the other teen until the clearing of a throat brought him out of his frozen stance. Gaara glared over his shoulder at the taller bodyguard that had somehow snuck up on him from behind. The turban wearing man to his credit didn't look intimidated in the slightest, he just gestured with his hand for the other to follow.

With one more glare at the man, Gaara subsequently strolled down the hallway elegantly with the aforementioned bodyguard in tow. He waltzed into the room he had seen Haku pass through and stopped right in the middle of the squared space, unconsciously crossing his arms over his chest while awaiting the other's boy forthcoming intention.

"Baki," Haku addressed the aloof bodyguard, "please shut the door and make sure no one tries to disturb us." The one known as Baki nodded his head curtly before doing as he was told. The teen then focused his attention on the expressionless red haired male when the two of them were finally alone. "So tell me, Gaara, how have you been?"

"I didn't come here to chat with you."

"Very well," Haku responded, a flash of righteous anger heating his brown irises before his superficial mask reemerged. With gradual footing, Haku strode over to a wood dyed filing cabinet situated against the far wall. He opened the top drawer and delved in prior to bringing out a plastic bag full of an unknown import. He tossed the bag to Gaara and watched in amusement as the redhead's black tinted eyes lit into revival. "I'll let our boss know you stopped by," the dark haired teen offered as a farewell.

Gaara protectively clutched at the plastic bag before turning on his heel and stalking away, opening the door harshly as he departed.

* * *

The first thing he recognized as he tried to fight off the drug induced haze he had readily cast over himself was that the strong smell hitting his nostrils was very unpleasant. The drenched odor coming from the warehouse was a cross between a wet dog and an upset stomach. Gaara wrinkled his nose in disdain, but refused to move from his spot next to a shipment of large crates.

There were others like him in the steeled building, lying around in a confused stupor on the ground. He wasn't concerned about them, though. The only care he had right then was that he had never felt so empowered. Whether he had had that type of feeling before, he wasn't sure. All he knew was at that exact moment in time he didn't want to be anywhere else in the world.

An echo of footsteps unexpectedly registered in his ringing ears, yet he paid no heed as the noise grew louder and louder. A distorted silhouette came into his line of vision; only when the figure stooped down to his eye level did Gaara attempt to clear his sight.

"What the fuck is this, Gaara?" A familiar voice snapped in anger. Naruto was bent down on one knee right in front of the other, his golden tresses in a feral-like halo. Through his blurry image, Sabaku could perceive that the blonde male was furious, downright pissed even. "How could you keep something like this from me, huh?"

Naruto could feel the white hot anger circulating in his veins and wanting to explode throughout his body. The day before, Naruto had been cautious and a bit paranoid; he knew it was a bad idea for him to remain in any one place for too long otherwise the authorities would find him. He eventually made the decision to leave the slums and head a couple of cities away by means of a train. Nevertheless, the whiskered teen hadn't planned on leaving until he had said goodbye to his friends. Gaara had been the only one he hadn't been able to locate; so assuming that the older boy wouldn't show up any time soon, Naruto had walked to the warehouse to collect the rest of his belongings.

If anyone would have told him that one day he would encounter a druggie version of Gaara, he would have laughed in their faces. Sure, he had had his suspicions, but he had just chalked it up to being one of the exaggerations that were his so-called mind. But now, as he witnessed the usually prideful redhead leaning against a stack of huge boxes, his clothes dirtied and ripped, a clear bag on his chest, and his bottom lip crusted with what looked like a white powder, Naruto felt that same paranoia seeping into his conscious.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself and knowing that nothing good would come out of yelling at a person who was faded, Naruto said more gently, "How long have you been here anyway?" Gaara appeared to be thinking the question over, but then shook his head lethargically. "Kuso," the blonde cursed to himself. "You goddamn bastard..."

Gaara blinked his eyes a couple of times before he murmured in a hiss, "I wanted to feel good."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better or something? Yeah, you think you feel good _now,_ but what if you were to do this again and you never came out of it?"

Gaara positioned his head to the side as he whispered, "I...never meant for you to see me like this." Naruto sighed as he heard these words, staring at his friend sadly. The blonde then attempted to haul Gaara by slipping his hands underneath the other's arms. Gaara twisted his body and leaned in more into the boxes. "No," he nearly croaked. "Leave me."

"But I need to wash you off and get you sober–"

"I said leave me."

Uzumaki's face morphed into a frown. "I'm not just going to leave you here, Gaara."

The older teen didn't respond to Naruto's declaration; he continued to lie on the lower part of his back, outwardly detached. Naruto felt helpless as he gazed. He wasn't sure what he could do. Shifting his body so that he could sit on the other side of Gaara, Naruto peered at the other contemplatively. Leisurely, a proposal began forming in his thoughts, one that might rectify the current situation.

With a last solution in mind, Naruto began again, "Listen, I can't stay here. I need to leave before the police start looking for me again. I was thinking...maybe...you'd like to come with me?"

Gaara was silent for awhile, but when he did answer it was with a derisive snort. "S-Stop trying to be the hero, Uzumaki. You can't save everyone. You...you couldn't even save your own father."

Unwanted memories filtered in Naruto's head, making the boy clench his fists in fury. Without thinking and seeking to hurt, he retorted. "You got a lot of nerve mentioning anyone's father. My dad was sick, I'll admit, but at least he wasn't a cold-blooded coward who hired his own brother-in-law to kill his child." A sort of quiet overwhelmed the two boys as Naruto's words fully sunk in. It wasn't until Gaara opened his mouth did Naruto regret his words.

"Get away from me."

"Gaara, man, I didn't mean–"

Naruto narrowly missed the fist aimed for his face as he tilted to the side and avoided the intended punch. He jumped to his feet when Gaara tried swiping at him for a second time; the disoriented boy's movements were so sluggish that he literally fell on his face. The golden teen took a step forward, meaning to help the other boy, but when a heated glare was pointed at him, Naruto stopped in his tracks.

Figuring an apology was pointless at the time, Naruto gave one more glance at his friend before twirling himself around and heading to one of the crates on the other side of the building. _I am such an asshole, _was the mantra clicking in his head as he instinctively opened the top of the said crate and fumbled inside to pack his clothes and other necessities.

* * *

The overhead streetlights flickered on as the ginger lit sky darkened into a dim blue steadily. Gripping his cotton hoodie closer to his torso, Naruto stood underneath the lamps' brightness for warmth and for comfort. It had been hours since he had last seen Gaara and he was immensely worried about the red headed boy.

Earlier, after he had packed his belongings, Naruto had checked on Gaara one more time to make sure he was at least still alive. He then had left the warehouse with the intention of coming back and made a call to Temari at the pay phone one mile away, evading the information about her youngest brother's drug activities. He just told her that Gaara was at the warehouse and that she should come to see him. The blonde haired girl had had him on the phone longer than he had anticipated, asking him questions suspiciously. By the time Naruto returned back to the building, Gaara wasn't there anymore.

He and Temari afterwards had searched all around the neighborhood, asking friends and acquaintances if they had seen the pallid teen. All the leads provided to them led to either more searching or dead ends. Both blondes had exhausted their efforts as soon as the sun began to set. Temari had had to coax the stubborn Naruto in ceasing with the searching, explaining to him that Gaara was more her responsibility than his.

Still, the tanned teen couldn't help but feel he could have done more for the older boy. He had been callous and confrontational with the drug influenced male; and with that, Naruto had dealt with him wrong. He wished he could take back all the mean things he had said. He should have just stayed with him, no matter how livid he might have been.

Distractedly, Naruto started to stalk en route for the train station; the L-shaped construction was in the center of downtown, fifteen minutes ahead on foot. The blonde reasoned that he ought to pay for his ticket and leave the city while the cops and social workers were subdued for the night. Once he was settled in, he would get in touch with Temari again and ensure that Gaara was doing alright_. Hopefully, everything will work out... _

Naruto was so lost in his musings that he didn't notice a black limousine coming his way; the stretched vehicle had begun to ride alongside him. Naruto's head snapped up when the resonance of a window rolling down reached his hearing. A black headed figure stuck his head out, a sardonic smirk reaching the person's lips and Naruto suffered the sensation of goose bumps appearing on his skin.

"Hello, Naruto-kun."

His godfather's business associate, Orochimaru, was the one who called out to him; the snake resembled man was sitting casually on the passenger's side of the vehicle. His yellow, serpent eyes were staring at Naruto as though the boy was nothing more than a peasant. Naruto hurried his steps, silently praying that the man would lose interest in him and drive away.

Orochimaru continued talking despite the blonde's silence, "Isn't it a little dangerous for a boy your age to be walking around at this time of night?"

Naruto gritted his teeth at the oily man's mocking tone. "I have to be at some place important," he feigned as civilly as he could.

"How about a ride then? You would get to wherever you need to be much faster."

"No, thanks."

"Oh, but I insist. I would feel quite awful if anything _bad_ were to happen to you."

Sighting a road divider in his peripheral vision, Naruto took the opportunity to say, "Look, I know you don't give a damn about my wellbeing. So, why don't you just go your way and I'll go mine," before running on the other side of the highway, plainly grateful that there weren't that many cars in the area. Orochimaru studied the boy with his pupils until the wild headed teen had disappeared into the darkness.

A spiteful chuckle to his left brought back his own smirk. "My, my, that boy is certainly a firecracker." A gray haired, twenty-something youth by the name of Kabuto gave another laugh as he turned the steering wheel slightly to change lanes.

"Indeed," the dark haired businessman commented considerably. "Such spirit, and yet so uncontrolled. If only that fool Jiraiya had handed him over to me. I would've been able to discipline him better. I always knew that boy would be that idiot's downfall."

Kabuto used his right hand to push his prescribed glasses to the bridge of his nose. "Yes, very unfortunate."

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**Tenth chapter complete.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**Chapter 11**

"_Life ceases to be so oppressive: we are free to give our own lives meaning and purpose, free to redeem our suffering by making something of it." – _**Walter Kaufmann**

* * *

The constant ticking of the clock suspended high against the classroom wall was a mere fraction of an issue compared to the dismal thoughts mingling inside of Kakashi's mind. The aforesaid silver headed educator released a shuttering sigh as he leaned more into his chair, waiting for the last few minutes of school to come to an end. His students, he failed to notice, were not much better in their position; a majority of the young teenagers were in fact reclining in their seats in a lethargic fashion. It was as though the teens could feel the melancholy waves arising from their teacher and that they had no other choice but to wallow together in self pity.

It had been exactly two weeks since that foreboding afternoon, the day Kakashi had revealed his blonde student's precarious home life to the school. Needless to say, Hatake wasn't feeling any less guilty than he had felt that day, especially after he had learned that Naruto had run away from the group home. Tsunade had been absolutely flustered when she had received a call from the school informing her of Naruto's absence. The authorities thus had been contacted immediately, but the search so far had proven inadequate. There had been no sign of the blonde and it didn't appear as though anyone had an inkling of where he might possibly be.

Kakashi himself had even searched for the boy, going as far as driving through the more seedier parts of downtown. Unable to locate his student however, Kakashi's only source of solace was that he knew Naruto was a street kid and that he had most likely survived even the harshest of conditions. The older man just hoped that where ever Naruto was, the boy was alive and safe (or at least as safe as a young teen could be in his current situation).

A sudden echoing resonance annoyingly seemed to crash through Kakashi's morbid mood. It took the man a matter of seconds to realize that the last bell of the day had just rung throughout the building. Skillfully ignoring his students' happy exclamations of freedom as they left, Kakashi rose from his chair and began packing his books and other such materials, preparing to leave himself as soon as possible. Since he had no other responsibilities after school excluding grading papers, the older male was more than happy to be leaving the campus and returning to his home.

Right as he was about to exit his classroom, the phone attached to his desk started to ring shrilly. With a practiced eye roll, Kakashi then dropped his carrier on the floor and sauntered back to his desk. He picked up the receiver and answered the phone with an unusual professional stoicism.

"Room 4B, Kakashi Hatake speaking." The masked man addressed, silently praying that it wasn't one of the administrators calling to bother him.

"Hatake-san," the soft voice of the female secretary returned formally. "There's an important call for you on line two."

Kakashi furrowed his exposed brow in confusion when the secretary didn't reveal any more information. Thanking the woman rather quickly, the man afterward transferred his call and stood patiently for the other line to pick up. He didn't have to wait long as an unfamiliar, male tenor reacted curtly on the other end.

"Am I speaking with a Kakashi Hatake?" The unidentified man questioned.

"Yes, this is he." _Okay, now I'm _really _confused._

"Hatake-san, I'm Officer Raidou Namiashi of the Konoha Police Department. Do you happen to know a young boy by the name of Naruto Uzumaki?"

The middle school teacher felt his breath hitch and his body freeze in apprehension. "Yes, he's my student. Is...is he...?" He couldn't bring himself to say the word 'dead'. The fact that an officer of the law working for another city was calling about his missing student was more than disheartening.

"The boy is fine," the officer assured firmly, making Kakashi's shoulders sag in obvious relief. "He's here at the station now. He had been picked up earlier in the day due to some unlawful activities involving another minor." The silver haired man closed his eye(s) briefly, not wanting to know the sort of 'unlawful activities' his innocent appearing pupil had engaged in. Namiashi continued, unaware of the other man's distress. "Now, we already contacted his guardian to come and retrieve him and she is on the way, but he was real adamant about speaking with you. I told him I would give you a call after he told me about you. Is it alright if I put him on?""

"Yeah, okay. I'll talk to him."

Officer Raidou's voice sounded in the background before a detached one asked, "...Kakashi-sensei?"

Releasing breath he had unknowingly been holding in, Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. "Naruto? It's good to hear your voice. How are you?"

"I'm pissed. I'm pissed at you, and I'm pissed that I have to go back to that stupid Tsunade-hag."

Despite the icy tone of the young teen, Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle. "If you're so upset with me, why'd you want to talk to me in the first place? Or better yet, why not just wait until you come back to school?"

Naruto grew silent after Kakashi's understandable questions. If the boy hadn't been breathing extra hard through the phone, Kakashi would have assumed that the other had hung up. The seconds steadily expanded to become a full minute, and the older male was growing edgy. Kakashi was about to comment prior to hearing Naruto's mumbles.

"...I just had to know why you told on me."

Hatake's good natured feeling vanished in an instant. With careful words, he replied delicately. "I'm your teacher. If I suspect any form of abuse or neglect with any student, I'm legally responsible in letting the school know."

"Bullshit," Naruto hissed in aggravation. "Don't give me any of that educator-mumbo-jumbo talk. I want you to tell me the _real _reason you told on me."

Kakashi honestly didn't know how to start a respond without letting the teen know how much he was affecting him. The thought that a mere fourteen year old could cause such an impression on him made the man almost want to bend over to erupt nervous chuckles.

Fortunately for the both of them, Kakashi was able to open up like he had never done before with another human being. "I guess I was worried about you. When I had found out that you had been selling you body on the streets, it made something in me snap. You're worth more than that, Naruto. A lot more. I just wanted to help you, kid."

There was a long pause, and then Naruto said with the most defeated tone of voice. "I didn't want your help. You just being there for me was more than enough."

The dial tone abruptly met Kakashi's ears. The gravity defying haired man put the phone back in its cradle as he sighed again. And although he was glad to note that Naruto was alive and well, he still knew that there was some unresolved conflict between the two of them. _Well, I'm just going to have to fix that, _he determined_._

* * *

The weekend passed by in a relatively slow pace, the mentioned two days growing colder as the fall season resumed its cool duration. Naruto was just grateful that he was at least allowed to eat and sleep without any disruption from the outside world. After he had been picked up by a livid yet relieved Tsunade the previous Friday evening, she had then told him about his various punishments regarding his running away. _You should be so glad the police didn't lock you up in some juvenile detention, _the older blonde woman's voice had emerged in his head.

Since he had a generous amount of truancy violations, the blue eyed blonde had a lot of school work to make up for. At present, the whisker marked teen was sitting on a sofa situated in one of the rooms of the group home, twiddling his thumbs together as he waited anxiously for Tsunade to end her conversation with Principal Sarutobi on the phone. It was the Monday morning before school was supposed to start, and Naruto could barely admit to himself that he was uneasy about going back.

Not only would he be facing his multiple peers, he would also be facing his eccentric sensei as well. Naruto figured that the older man would try his hardest in gaining back the teen's trust. And Naruto truthfully wasn't ready to be all 'friendly' with the silver haired male. The act of betrayal from his teacher was more than difficult to ignore.

"...I understand, Sarutobi-san," Tsunade's voice traveled through the corridor, prompting Naruto to lift his head to listen. "And I'll be the one to pick him from school...yes, I do sometimes have important businesses to attend, but those can be pushed aside for the time being...no, I thank you for your discretion. Okay, goodbye."

A phone being slammed down forcefully was heard reverberating against the walls. The _click, click _noise of Tsunade's heels on the tiled floor subsequently came in Naruto's direction as the said boy watched the honey eyed female leave her office and head determinedly towards him.

Stopping right in front of him, Tsunade placed her hands on her hips and started, "Here's the deal, brat – I'm going to be the one to drive you to and from school. You are _not _to start trouble. You will attend your classes, and do your work. And since you have so many absences on your record, you are obliged to have after school detentions for the rest of the semester or until you make up all your work. If you so much as _think _about running away again, I will see to it that the judge locks you up. Am I in any way unclear?"

Naruto shot the older blonde a heated glare before slumping lower on the couch, "No."

"Good. Now go get your backpack. We're leaving in ten minutes."

"Bite me, old hag," Naruto murmured underneath his breath as he stood upward from his slouched position.

"What was that, brat?"

"...Nothing."

A little after ten minutes had surfaced, Tsunade and Naruto departed from the traditional house and ambled on the way to the older blonde's personal vehicle. The car was a brand new silver colored Jaguar XJ parked on the left side of the residence. Naruto found himself gawking at the superlative machinery before Tsunade gave him a look that clearly said 'get in the car now'.

Both blondes climbed inside the car simultaneously, closing their doors harshly as though it were going out of style. As Tsunade pulled the car out of the parking space and began to drive, the Uzumaki peered out of the window through his peripheral vision, witnessing as his housemates went into separate vehicles with three of the institute's employees.

Entering into the middle school's grounds before the first bell was scheduled to ring, Naruto's guardian dropped him off near the front of the building; the cement steps of the school were right in the teen's sight. Tsunade remained in her vehicle, watching the boy as he seemingly blended in the condensed crowd of adolescents. Once Naruto had reached the double doors of the entryway, he saw as Tsunade put her car into drive and zoomed away.

Naruto then opened the steel doors that led to the hallway of the school. Disregarding the other teens that were surrounding him on all sides, the blonde male walked toward his lockers at the end of the row. He exhaled a heavy breath as he mentally braced himself for the day that was ahead of him.

* * *

The bell for lunch rang punctually; hordes of students and some faculty poured from the numerous classrooms in a rush to arrive at either the cafeteria or the staff lounge. Naruto was in no such rush unlike the rest of his peers; he just wanted the school day to be over so that he could lock himself in his room and curl up on the bed assigned to him.

In order to avoid the Uchiha and that one weird girl who had somehow taken a liking to him, Naruto decided to have his lunch on the roof. Coincidentally, the boy's guardian had made him a bento box, and for that reason he didn't have to waste his time waiting in the lunch line to receive food. Naruto may not have liked the busty old bat, but he did appreciate that she took the time to make him lunch.

Stepping on rocks and dirt, Naruto strolled to a singular wall, adorned with multicolored graffiti and aging bubblegum. The teen sat down against the section that was the most clear of grimy substances. Taking out his meal from an orange bag, the blonde then quietly ate his food and thought back to the morning where he had first entered Kakashi-sensei's class. The other students had given him even more angered glares when he had taken his seat; Naruto wasn't sure whether they had done this because his 'job' had been tossed around or because he hadn't been in school for awhile. Either way, Naruto's impassive attitude had been nonetheless worse than it had been before.

The only positive aspect of his first class was that his silver headed teacher barely glanced at him. The older male just did his standard routine of arriving late to the room and saying something outrageous as an excuse for it. Part of Naruto hoped that Kakashi had in truth given up on him, yet another part of him wanted, well...Naruto wasn't sure what he wanted anymore. _It sucks having my freedom taken away from me like this, _the cerulean eyed boy reflected in his mind.

Munching on a particular morsel, Naruto was suddenly sheathed by a shadow blocking his view of the sun. He looked up in irritation before his eyes widened and his mouth fell open, causing a chewed tomato to fall from his lips. Kakashi Hatake was standing before him with an obscured amusement on his face.

"Careful," Kakashi had a playful quality to his tone. "You'll catch flies if you keep your mouth opened like that."

Naruto snapped his mouth shut with an audible, "...Shit."

The masked man shook his finger with mock scolding. "Such language is not permitted on school grounds."

The younger male crossed his arms over his chest, glowering. "I have nothing else to say to you."

"So, what? You're just going to sit there and ignore me?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Okay, well, I'll just sit next to you while you're 'ignoring' me," Hatake announced, paying no heed to the teen's protests. He even grasped the back of Naruto's shirt carelessly when the other attempted to get away.

Naruto pouted as the man held him in place, turning his head the other direction in defiance. With his free hand, Kakashi rummaged inside his huge pockets before bringing out a not-so-mysterious orange book. The masked male hummed to himself while reading the erotic material, very much aware that the younger boy on his side was trying and failing to ignore him.

After another five minutes, Naruto, being the curious kid he was, grumbled, "I should have known it was too good to be true when you didn't so much as look at me early this morning."

Without taking his eyes off the pages of his book, Kakashi countered. "What happened to you ignoring me?"

The blonde growled viciously. "Kami-sama, I hate you."

"I know you think that's what you're feeling right now, but you don't mean it."

Naruto's face blushed red in fury. "Shut up! Who are you to say how I'm feeling right now? Everything was going fine for me until you decided to shove your big nose in my business! Now, because of you, I'm stuck in a lame ass orphanage with a stupid old hag who I can't stand! So, fuck you! Fuck you, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi was still for what felt like a lifetime, and then finally he said with a serious edge, "Are you done? Is your little temper tantrum over with now?" In the corner of his eye, the man saw as Naruto bunched up his right hand into a fist and lifted the appendage as though he was ready to punch him. "I would rethink that decision if I were you, Naruto. You're already in enough trouble as it is. Do you want to add 'assault of a teacher' to that list?" Inwardly, even with the teen meaning to hit him, Kakashi was quite pleased to see that the boy was actually showing outward emotion.

Momentarily clenching his fist a bit harder, Naruto gradually released the tight hold and languidly put his hand in his lap. "It's not fair," he mumbled a few seconds later.

"It never is," Kakashi agreed, his attention going back to his precious paperback.

And with those reassuring words, the tanned teen leisurely relaxed against the older male's grip. He gave a longing look to the bento box that had fallen over on the gravel during his outburst before staring ponderingly at his puzzling sensei. There was still a smidgeon of anger at the Hatake, but Naruto came to the conclusion that he wasn't as angry as he should have been. In spite of that, the blonde still wasn't ready to completely forgive his teacher.

"I'm still mad at you." Naruto admitted with a halfhearted glare.

"You're probably going to be for awhile, but I'm a pretty patient person," the silver haired man intoned, his exposed eye curving upward to form a 'U' shape.

"I just don't get you." A shake of a head of yellow locks followed the statement.

"I've heard that more than enough times."

The blue eyed boy gazed at the other incredulously before frowning. "How'd you know I was up on the roof anyway?"

"I followed you," Kakashi offhandedly confessed, shrugging his right shoulder.

"What are you – my stalker now?" Naruto threw his hands up in exasperation.

Kakashi didn't answer him; instead the man chuckled lightly to himself and resumed reading his hentai paperback. Naruto eyed the cover knowingly, recognizing the narrative as the one his sensei typically had with him most of the time. Naruto internally wondered how the man would react if he were to ever find out that the teen knew exactly who the author of those books were.

* * *

Naruto kept his head on the desk, deftly disregarding the narrowed brown orbs trying to burn a hole through his back. Four minutes previously, the blonde haired male had been stalking through the halls after the final bell had rung, avoiding the other students' bodies as he made his way to the room equipped for detention. To say that he was infuriated with the whole arrangement was more than an understatement. It was pure injustice, at least according to him.

What was worse was that there was a good chance that one of the teachers who unfairly disliked him could be the person to reside over the remainder of detention. Naruto unconsciously shut his eyes at the thought. If that scenario were to happen at all, the teen would run away again without a second reflection, consequences be damned.

Having the urge to groan as he thought about all the negatives of his day, Naruto didn't even glance up when the sound of a door being opened reached his ears. As footsteps met the carpeted floor, the Uzumaki buried his lowered head further into his arms, mentally willing the next hour to pass by quickly. It wasn't until a kind voice floated in the room did Naruto decided to peek through his elbows to get a glimpse.

"Nara, Inuzuka, why are you two once again in detention? Haven't you boys learned your lesson yet?"

The teen who had been glaring at Naruto, Kiba, spoke loudly in his objections, making up excuses that were more or less fabricated. The other teen, Shikamaru, remained silent at his seat. The blonde had only had a passing glance at the lazy yet smart boy; he was another of his peers that hadn't tried to mess with him yet. Naruto assumed that Shikamaru's silence meant that the other either couldn't voice his reasons for gaining another detention or just simply_ wouldn't. _

"A likely story," a silhouette of a man said sarcastically to Kiba's nonsense. With a raise of the blonde's head, the man was revealed to Naruto in his entirety – a long haired brunette man with a scar across his nose. When the older male saw that the little golden haired kid was giving him attention, he looked back at him and questioned. "Ah, yes, Naruto Uzumaki. The principal told me about your special case. You're not going to give me trouble now, are you?"

For some strange reason, Naruto felt that he could rely on this man. "Iie, I won't."

Kiba snorted derisively. "Freak," he muttered.

The brunette teacher shot the dog loving boy a pointed stare. "We don't call our classmates 'freaks', Inuzuka. If I hear another such word coming from your mouth again, you'll receive detention for an entire week. Understood?"

The Inuzuka teen gulped at the older male's words. "Yes, sir."

The brown headed man nodded his head before speaking louder, "Inuzuka and Nara already know who I am." He then spun around and walked to the board, picking up a lone black marker and writing down his name in cursive. "But for our new occupant, I'm going to introduce myself again. My name is Iruka Umino, call me Iruka-sensei, and I'll be in your stead for the following fifty minutes."

* * *

**Eleventh chapter complete.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Naruto_, its characters and/or ideas. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Warnings: **Listings are available in the first chapter.

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**…..**

**Chapter 12**

___Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future._ – **Paul Boese**

* * *

The weeks following Naruto's return to school were unexpectedly constructive. Having Iruka-sensei as his primary after school teacher was a beneficial factor for him; the said older man didn't ridicule him like some of the other educators tended to do, and the basis of his school work had begun to improve steadily yet efficiently. Before running away, Naruto hadn't given much thought to the accuracy of his lessons, and since a majority of his peers and teachers hadn't been willing to help him, the boy had just sort of disregarded his assignments.

Without having meant to, Naruto had started to grow fond of Iruka. The brown haired man, he felt, was the one person whom most understood him. The two had unintentionally gotten closer, and Iruka had found himself conversing with the youth about certain things when the both of them were alone in detention.

The two males had a lot in common, after all – they both lost their parents at a young age, they both were outcasts in one fashion or another, and they both hid their sorrow through varying expressions. The fact that Naruto now knew it wasn't just him against the world, that he at least had one positive being on his side made attending middle school all the more easier. That wasn't to say, however, that the boy still didn't have his troubles.

He and Tsunade were still at odds with each other, most of his classmates were still mean to him, and Kakashi was still trying to mollify him. Why the silver haired male was going through such lengths to reach him again, Naruto didn't know. Ever since the roof incident, the Hatake had intensified his interest in him, going as far as to seek the younger out during lunch period.

Naruto in actuality had indulged the perverted man a couple of times; the student and teacher duo had met up at the same roof twice. Their minimal chatter as they ate side by side in the autumn weather had been curt and tense with the blonde chewing on his food greedily and Kakashi multitasking, taking out his usual erotic material to read as he munched as well. Naruto discerned that, despite his consent to eat with Kakashi, he wasn't entirely over the betrayal. It would be a long while before the blue eyed teen would be keen on trusting his eccentric sensei once more.

More often than not, Naruto was found in the cafeteria, seated near the farthest table from the crowded body of students. Sasuke and Hinata had taken to sitting with him, the three of them typically staying quiet throughout their break. Initially, the tanned boy had been reluctant to have either one of the dark haired teens being close to him, but he eventually let it slide.

_Things are certainly changing, _the Uzumaki boy often mused to himself during those weeks. Unbeknownst to the blonde, the changes in his life were only just beginning...

* * *

"For those of you whom haven't turned in your field trip permission slips, I suggest you do so by tomorrow," Kakashi Hatake announced to his students impassively, the bell ringing to signal the end of the first class. It was an average Thursday morning, and the one eyed teacher was eager for the day to already be over and done with.

A number of his pupils stopped by his desk to drop off a sheet of a singular paper prior to exiting the room. Kakashi concluded, as he shuffled the mentioned papers in a pile, that all of his students had thus turned in their permission slips throughout the last three days, all but one...

"Uzumaki, a word please?"

Naruto halted his steps at the older male's voice, expertly ignoring the vicious whispers and looks sent his way as he stood beside the entryway. "Yeah, sensei?" he asked, not turning back around straight away.

Kakashi waited for the last of the occupants to depart before he evenly stated, "I see you're the only student who hasn't turn in their permission slip in my first period."

Naruto remained tight lipped for several seconds, brooding. He then finally spun to face his teacher as he answered with a blank face, "I don't want to go to the stupid aquarium."

"That makes two of us. I certainly don't want to chaperone," Kakashi quipped, his exposed eye closing in a familiar arch. "Why are you so opposed to going?"

The blonde was just about to ask him why he even had to chaperone, but decided against it. Disregarding his teacher's query, he instead uttered. "You're making me late for my next class."

"I'll give you a late slip," the masked adult said with a dismissive tone, beckoning his precocious student over with a wave of his hand. Once a reluctant Naruto was in front of his small table, Kakashi inquired. "Does your guardian even know about the upcoming field trip?"

"Yeah, she knows because of some of the other kids in the orphanage. I just haven't given her_ my_ permission slip, and I don't want to."

"And why is that?" He tried again with questioning the boy.

"...I don't want to talk about it."

Kakashi hummed in consideration, lowering his hand to open his desk's drawer and rummage inside its interior. The educator afterward brought out a laminated slip, handing the note over to the seemingly uncaring boy. Naruto's right hand moved outward to grasp the slip, but Kakashi kept it out of reach temporarily, looking pointedly into the blonde's cerulean orbs.

"I'm not going to say that you _have _to go to the aquarium," the man relented. "But I think it'll be good for you. I know Principal Sarutobi would appreciate it," and as an afterthought he included. "And so would I. Sleep on it and see how you feel tomorrow. Fair enough?"

Naruto bowed his head, feeling waves of unwanted emotions surfacing to his psyche. He really, _really _didn't want to have to go on a school field trip where most of his peers would be joyful and full of excitement. It would just bring forth nostalgic memories of the trips he had taken with his father to the aquarium before the man had gotten sick.

"We'll see." Naruto replied after a whole minute. "Can I go now?" His teacher nodded in a rather dejected manner. Naruto didn't give him a chance to say anything else; the teen was quick in leaving the classroom after snatching the late slip in his clutches.

The blonde then sprinted down the hallway since there weren't that many students inclined to be late to their next class. Circling passed another hall, Naruto was so tangled in his thoughts that he collided with a body walking from the opposite way. Naruto braced himself for a scolding or even a beating until Iruka's kind voice reverberated in the nearly empty hallway.

"Hey, are you alright? You've got to be more careful, Naruto."

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei," the young teen answered, his bangs covering his eyes.

Recognizing the unemotional quality of the boy's voice, Iruka said in concerned. "Are you okay? Has someone been bothering you?"

"No...no...it's just...Kaka-Hatake-sensei made me feel bad about not turning in my permission slip for the field trip."

"How did he make you feel bad?"

Lowering his head even more, Naruto said almost icily. "I don't want to go to the aquarium."

Iruka stayed quiet for an undetermined amount of time, more than likely being merely a few long intervals before he said the one thing that made everything seem so simple.

"Then don't go."

Naruto's head snapped upward quickly in surprise. The brunette educator offered him a warm smile before patting his shoulder. "We both need to get to class, and I'm late enough as it is. I'll see you later." And with that, Iruka resumed his trek onward.

The man left Naruto standing there in the hall, lost in his own contemplations. Iruka had basically told him that he didn't have to go to the aquarium if he didn't want to. This staggered him a little; he was sure Iruka would've objected to his pessimism. Still, the look in his eye had the same gleam Kakashi-sensei's had when the other man made the proposal for him to sleep on his decision. Naruto wasn't aware until many minutes afterward that the tardy bell had chimed.

* * *

The public aquarium within the middle school's locality was a large constructed dome which housed various species of fish, dolphins, whales, sharks, seals and smaller aquatic animals. The 20,000 square foot building had been made five decades before hand, and the structure was one of the most visited places in the city. It was the subsequent Monday morning (the day of the scheduled field trip), and numbers of teenage students were gazing upon the acrylic windows of the sea creatures in groups of twenty.

Naruto was literally dragging his feet, treading along with his group as he tuned out the tour guide's booming voice. The blonde was starting to regret giving the old hag his permission slip the previous Thursday afternoon. In all honesty, Naruto wasn't even sure why he had done it.

After Tsunade had picked him up from school that day, he had had in inner battle with himself, weighing the pros and the cons of handing her the slip. In the end, he had finally relinquished the paper. Tsunade had just smirked at him, signing the sheet of paper as though it were an everyday thing, the stupid old wench. The next day, he had turned in the slip to Kakashi-sensei. The man had given him a secretive smile behind that fabric mask of his and it had made Naruto slightly aggravated. It was like he was being plotted against or something!

Walking beside the railing that separated the tanks from the visitors, Naruto stopped gradually as the tour guide finished his descriptions and his female chaperone allowed the students to wander around after telling them to meet back in the front of the aquarium in a half an hour. Naruto didn't have to be told twice; he ambled in the other direction of his peers, being extra careful in side-stepping Kiba Inuzuka, whom was too busy worrying over a huge bag he had brought with him. _Why the hell did he bring that bag, anyway? _The whisker marked male thought before pushing the reflection out of his mind. Why should he care about anything that had to do with the dog-breath?

The tanned teen glanced at the colorful masses of watery wildlife uninterestingly as he roamed, wishing internally for the field trip to come to a close sooner than was expected. Gliding his hand on the metal barrier, Naruto ceased his movements a few minutes later as he came to the end of the stretched corridor. A figure suddenly appeared next to him, their shadow outlining the blonde's form. Naruto at first thought the person was Kakashi-sensei, but he was surprised to find the Uchiha standing alongside him.

"We came here once," the black headed boy said coolly as he stared ahead. "I remember your dad took us," he seemed to clarify as Naruto tensed beside him. "It was a year before you disappeared."

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut briefly, feeling the sting of tears wanting to emerge. He didn't want to think about it, he didn't _want _to remember. Why was Sasuke attempting to be friends with him again? Couldn't he see that Naruto wasn't the same Naruto he had known as a younger child? Why couldn't Sasuke just leave him alone?

Schooling his features to remain detached, the lighter haired boy feigned with a flat tone. "I don't know what you mean. You and I never came to this aquarium with my...father."

Sasuke heard the other's hesitation with the word 'father', but choose to not address Naruto's tension. "Not only are you lying to me, you're lying to yourself," he responded calmly, his pitch stunning the blonde. Naruto thought the older teen was going to react more heatedly.

"What is it you want me to say?" The blonde teen asked following a long pause between the two.

"Whatever it is that is needed to be said," was the last suggestion the Uchiha gave him prior to turning the other direction and making his way to the front of the aquarium.

Naruto watched him stalk away, bewilderment and irritation crossing his countenance. What was that all about? Rotating his head in a forefront position, the Uzumaki peered at the massive clear container right in his sight, three dolphins swimming around in a harmonized sequence of a dance. Naruto gazed at the magnificent mammals for several more seconds before strolling down the same path Sasuke had walked.

Passing a throng of teens gaping amazingly at a cluster of blowfish, Naruto flinched a bit when he heard whimpering and panting coming from a restricted area outside of the aquarium. The blue eyed male told himself to ignore the noises, yet curiosity got the best of him, and before he knew it, he was ambling toward the unidentified sounds. Peeking around a corner, Naruto's eyebrows rose upward as white fur and brown streaked ears met his line of vision. _A...A dog...?_

The dog's – or rather puppy's from the looks of it – whimpering ceased abruptly, it's cute tail wagging happily as Naruto stepped closer. The canine hopped toward him gaily, ostensibly glad that it was no longer alone. Naruto bent down on one knee as the puppy stood on its hind legs to greet the blonde with a flick of its tongue.

"Where did you come from?" Naruto questioned himself more than the pup, his hand petting the pastel coat in a gentle rhythm.

Footsteps from the other side alerted Naruto and the puppy, prompting the human boy to stand up and seize the pup in his arms. Naruto knew he would be in a lot of trouble if anybody caught him with the canine in his arms. Holding his breath, Naruto's stomach dropped as the last person he wanted to deal with poked his head into the vacant corridor as though he were searching for something.

Kiba, in all his roughness, scowled as soon as his auburn eyes took in the younger teen. Kiba was just about to stomp over to his foe and asked what the hell he was up to when he blinked his eyelids in astonishment as the puppy in the blonde's arms yipped in excitement.

"Akamaru, there you are," Kiba breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, this is your dog," Naruto deadpanned.

Kiba appeared to get over his shock, and he once again was scowling. "Yeah, what are you doing with him? Trying to steal him or what?"

"I wasn't trying to steal him. I found him wandering around," the younger muttered, "here," he said, wanting to hand the pup over to the Inuzuka. The older teen was astounded to see his pet acting so loving with the other, his pup licking and rubbing on Naruto's hands. Akamaru had never acted so friendly with a stranger before.

Grabbing his puppy in his own arms, Kiba couldn't stop himself as he spun around to face the now retreating blonde. "How'd you get my dog to respond to you? He never warms up to strangers."

"How should I know? He's your dog." Naruto said, stopping his feet with his back to the brown headed male.

The scowl that had left Kiba's face after his question returned. "You have quite a mouth on ya, don't ya?" Naruto shrugged, still not wanting to turn around. "Are you going to tell the teachers on me?"

"Are you going to beat me up if I do?" Naruto countered, rather tiredly. He _so _didn't need this right now. Looking over his shoulder to see Kiba glaring, the younger conceded with, "No, I'm not going to tell on you. It's not any of my business, anyway."

Naruto proceeded to walk forward, ready to meet with his chaperone and the group of students. What he didn't count on was Kiba running to catch up with him, planting himself in front of him to halt his pace.

"I wasn't finished talking," Kiba said in an almost haughty fashion previous to softening his voice to add, "I guess I should be thanking you for finding Akamaru. I didn't mean to bring him with me; he kinda invited himself, hiding in my bag this morning. He...he seems to really like you."

Naruto couldn't believe what was transpiring. The one and only Kiba Inuzuka was thanking _him_? What happened to the guy that just a few weeks ago was calling him a freak and a homo? Was Kiba really being cordial enough with him just because his _dog_ supposedly liked him? _If anyone's a freak around here, it's Inuzuka..._

"Don't mention it." The younger teen replied impersonally, unwilling to forget all of the brunette's injustices against him. Kiba frowned at Naruto's tone, but made no qualms about the attitude like he normally would've. The pair of males walked diagonally from each other as they headed toward the mass of visitors up front, thankful that they hadn't been noticed by security.

Striding beside a bulk of his classmates, Naruto was unsurprised to see Kakashi leaning against one of the railings behind him, the man indifferent to his own group of students. The blonde haired teen was torn between wishing and not wishing he were in the silver headed male's group.

"How's the field trip for you so far?" Kakashi asked Naruto as the masses of students and teachers moved along to tour another sector of the aquarium.

"It's been..." Naruto took a moment to glance in back of him, watching as Kiba clutched the huge bag to his side. "...different." He finished, unable to understand how none of the adults had discovered the squirming puppy inside Kiba's carrier.

* * *

Naruto entered his first period class the ensuing Tuesday morning exactly twenty seconds before the tardy bell rung throughout the school. The room was absent of Kakashi-sensei's presence, which meant that the man was naturally late. Since he was the last student to arrive, only one desk was available, coincidentally in back of Kiba's own seat.

Making his way through the aisles, Naruto then listlessly sat himself down, his head and elbows coming to rest on the wooden surface. He fidgeted in his chair as his conventional attire stuck to the more itching parts of his skin. The blonde was unprepared as Kiba revolved around in his seat to acknowledge him.

"Hey, Uzumaki," he said as though he had been saying it for years, turning back around without waiting for a reply. Naruto, along with many of his peers, were shocked into silence following the unforeseen greeting.

* * *

**Twelfth chapter complete. I apologize for taking almost a year to update and for the short chapter, but I've had a _major _writer's block with this story. And sadly the future updates are probably going to be irregular as well. The good news is that I know how I want this fic to end, and there are five or six (I hope) chapters left. **


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